Second Chance
by Thelodius
Summary: The right person at the right place at the right time can make all the difference. A self-exiled soldier finds himself instrumental in the Imperial power struggle. As he discovers loose ends from the past and new threats in the present, he must try his best to keep both his new family and his sanity safe.
1. Kill the Walker

Alright guys, I'm happy to present the new, updated version of the first chapter of 'Second Chance'! Note that content in this chapter will be added onto and edited in the next few weeks, along with the additions of a few new chapters. But for now I feel as if the first chapter is in presentable form, so I give you the remaining chapter that I promised about a week ago! Rate, review, favorite, follow, but most of all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Akame ga Kill.

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Chapter 1 - Kill the Walker

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As it had done so for over a millennium, the morning sun illuminated the emerald dome of the Emperor's palace, one of the Empire's true jewels. One millennium ago, men and women of the highest caliber put their bodies to work to create this monument that stood at the very heart of the sprawling capitol. Many historians and politicians in the future would cite the building process and the finished palace itself as not only a testament to the power and intelligence in the Empire, but as a result of what happens when humanity taps into its subconscious reserves of power, of energy. The architects had not been modest in their design of the palace, as almost all of the structure was composed of marble and adorned with gold and emerald. They had intended the palace to not only literally be the center of the Empire, but figuratively as well. Every morning, when the sun rose to greet the world, it would greet the palace first, and the jeweled decorations would shine the warmth of the sun's rays onto not only the citizenry in the capitol, but the Empire's people as a whole, and the lands beyond it.

Or, that was what the architects had intended to symbolize in the first place. The sun still reflected off the palace, but the landscape that the light landed on was completely different. In the past few years the Empire had undergone massive socio-political change. As the country was stuck in one of the worst recessions that even the Empire's greatest economists could not have seen, the government was forced to heavily raise taxes while giving little to nothing back to the people. Although programs pertinent to the military were maintained, forces were spread far and wide, and the brass now found themselves with less spending money. Soldiers had no guarantee that they'd ever set foot in their homeland again, and the recession now meant that arms manufacturers, which operated under the military's wing, did not profit as much by simply providing soldiers with their gear. As a result, recruits, who had to pass nearly draconian initiation tests, had to purchase their own expensive gear.

But perhaps the worst of all was the government's buckling down on dissent. Ever since the new prime minister took office, the military reserves had acted as more of a police force, and a brutal one at that. People who spoke out against the prime minister were shown little to no mercy, and even politicians who spoke out against the government simply disappeared. The creation of the Imperial Police force two years ago merely officiated what seemed to many citizens an unwelcome new standard of living. Executions of suspected dissidents became almost a daily ritual, and for the past few years the morning sun shined not on a happy populace, but a battered and traumatized one.

The executions took place in bustling district squares, places where most people in the capitol always stopped to go about their daily lives. The locations were not coincidental – the police knew exactly where their public displays of brutality would garner the most attention, where the most citizens would be shocked back into line. Today was no different, as a crowd began to gather around a small detachment of Imperial Police imposing over four beaten-up men and women who were bound and on their knees.

The detachment's commanding officer, a tower of a man, unsheathed his behemoth of a sword and pointed it to a soldier directly across from him. "Private!" the man barked. "I think the crowd's big enough now." He grinned, his expression nothing short of malice. "Go summon the lieutenant."

The young private, not wanting to get on the man's bad side, snapped into a salute with lightning speed and booked it towards a small tent set up on side of the intersection, narrowly dodging people gathering around the scene.

With shaky hands, he moved the entrance flap to the tent and peeked inside. Save from the light outside, the tent was illuminated by a single lightbulb which idly swung from the ceiling of the tent. At the opposite end of the entrance flap was a small desk with a radio, a few folders, their contents spread all over, and two modified tonfas. A young woman with long, auburn hair sat at the table. Her slumped posture was representative of the overall mood inside of the tent, and as the private took a few steps inside he was instantly greeted with a depressed atmosphere. Nevertheless, he had a job to do.

"Lieutenant! It's time." The young soldier immediately saluted his superior, who had still her back turned to him. Nothing but the sounds of a mewling animal permeated the inside of the tent. He had gotten used to his superior's periods of silence, but that didn't make them any less creepy.

The soldier cleared his throat. "U-uh, lieutenant?"

"Did we do it, private?"

He blinked. "I'm sorry, lieutenant?"

"Did we finally catch the evildoers?"

He sweatdropped. She had a habit of referring to everything in the line of work as either 'evil' or 'justice'. "Y-yes ma'am. The captain said it's time."

She slowly stood up, her back still turned to the young man. "Tell Captain Ogre I will be out momentarily, private."

She only heard his ankles snap together in a salute before he left, obviously not wanting to keep the captain waiting. She looked down at the small animal in her arms, its tail wagging in earnest as it barked at her. She pet the animal on the head and gave it a tragic smile.

"Let's go, Koro. For justice." She said. Koro barked once more and hopped out of her arms, running towards the tent flap.

The lieutenant turned her attention from Koro and to the tonfas on the table. She reached out a grabbed one by the handle, taking a minute to examine her reflection on the shiny metal surface.

Seryu Ubiquitous. When the Imperial Police Force was formed two years ago, she, under the wing of Captain Ogre, diligently sought to stamp out crime at the scene. Now twenty-three years old, she had solidified her position in both the force and the capitol's society. Her draconian handling of many criminals caused many of the capitol's citizens to regard her with a sense of fear and/or hatred. To many, she was the poster child of everything wrong with the current regime.

Nobody inside or outside the force knew exactly what drove her. Some speculated that she enjoyed the killing, as many days she would come back with her armor covered in blood and a satisfied look on her face. Others said that she was naïve enough to believe that they were doing the right thing by enforcing the unreasonable laws the regime installed. Almost all of the rumors were right in some way.

She examined her reflection. Everybody in the force knew her as that one colleague who was always full of energy, chomping at the bit to fight crime. However, in private, this was Seryu. Her eyes were devoid of any of that energy any fellow officer saw her with, or the determination that many criminals saw in their last moments. They were filled with a suffocating sadness that was carved into her entire face, and when she looked back at herself she saw a woman whose guilt threatened to crush her very existence.

"Dad…" she muttered. Seryu's grip tightened and she firmly shut her eyes. Memories of her father, like so many times before, threatened to flood her mind and overwhelm her judgment. Ever since her father died four years ago, she had done everything she could in order to keep his memory alive, going from Special Forces in the Imperial Army to an officer in the Imperial Police. She had done so much in the past four years, and yet everything she had done felt like a hollow gesture for him.

No matter how many people she killed, how much crime or evil she erased from the Empire, more would appear to replace the evil she had previously vanquished. None of what she had done could bring her closer to her father, and although a small part of her acknowledged this, she kept that part suppressed. She didn't know if she was able to accept his death, let alone all that had transpired over the past four years.

She slowly fell to her knees and lay her head on the table, her face wrought with grief. "Why?" she whispered to herself. "Why am I still doing this?"

" _Because it's what he would want,"_ a voice chimed in her head. Seryu took her head out of her arms and looked at nothing particular. There it was, that voice. That voice of rationalization that made every murder she committed, every name she earned from those around her, acceptable.

"Because…it's what he would want…"

" _Yeah!"_ It was almost like a miniature version of her was talking in her ear. _"He always wanted to see an unthreatened Empire with minimal crime, and you're seeing that through! What you're doing is carrying out his will!"_

If this miniature Seryu was real, her voice was getting louder. Every word that she uttered bounced around inside Seryu's head, slowly replacing every ounce of depression in her frame with something else much more sinister.

" _This is justice, Seryu! This is the justice your father would want! And it's what HE would want!"_ It pressed.

At that, she got up from the table. Her previous grief had been wiped clean from her face, as if she was a cleaned chalkboard. She took a look at the tonfa in her hand, her reflection back at her. The voice wasn't wrong: her father had always stressed the importance of justice and doing the right thing to her. In a way, this was carrying out what he wanted, and he always made it clear to her that justice was the most important thing to him.

Seryu stood there, looking at her reflection. Once again the sounds of lightbulbs overhead and the growing crowd outside permeated the tent. Koro, who had been watching his owner intently, barked to get her attention.

After what seemed like an eternity, Seryu finally murmured, "…this is what they would want. This is justice." And just like that, an overzealous maniac swapped places with a guilt-ridden husk of a person. Any sign of remorse or guilt was completely wiped from her face, her eyes now filled with a morbid determination and a smile that threatened to spill into a grin. Without hesitation, she holstered both of the tonfas and sauntered out of the tent, Koro enthusiastically bounding behind her.

Seryu's mood had improved so well, in fact, that she was completely oblivious to the baleful and fear-filled glances thrown her way. The crowd's hatred for the young woman was so palpable that one could cut through it with a sword. Captain Ogre did exactly this, and as he drew his massive blade the crowd immediately gave a wide berth to allow the young woman to proceed, recognizing his authority in the situation.

Ogre scowled at the crowd with his one good eye, then looked back to his petite lieutenant. He cracked another malicious grin, his eye now flicking between the tied-up prisoners and the woman below him.

"Took your sweet time, Lieutenant. Is being executioner too much for you now?"

Seryu snapped into a salute at light speed. "Never, Captain Ogre! I will always be there at a moment's notice for justice!"

Ogre closed his eye and laughed. "Let's see that dedication to justice put to the test again, lieutenant." He sheathed his sword, smirking. "Today's another batch of evil-ridden rebel sympathizers. I'll leave the rest to you."

Seryu nodded. She pressed a button located on the ends of the tonfa grips, causing mechanisms similar to triggers to appear beneath her index fingers, and the short end of her tonfas to reveal gun muzzles of only guns that shot the largest caliber bullets. She wasted no time in walking up to the first prisoner, who was clearly panicking. She chambered the first round, her face devoid of all emotion.

"Do you have any last words, evil-doer?" Seryu's voice seemed robotic, a result of having run through this scene so many times.

The prisoner turned to Seryu to lock his panicked eyes with her dead ones. He shivered at the sight of the lack of emotion they conveyed, but he had nothing to lose now.

"Please!" He pleaded, his eyes practically begging Seryu. "Captain Ogre framed me, I'm innocent! Please, lieutenant Seryu! I have a fiancée, we're set to get married this month! Please!"

The prisoner hoped that his last-ditch plea would get through to the young woman, and for a second he could've sworn that he saw sympathy among other emotions dance in her auburn eyes. His deduction was painfully off, as his the last thing his pleading eyes saw was the dark of a gun barrel.

CRACK!

The prisoner crumpled onto the ground, blood pouring out of the gaping exit wound the large caliber bullet had made. The second prisoner, mortified at the sight of such a ruthless murder, screamed as loudly as she could, horror etched into her features. The third and fourth prisoner looked down and began sobbing quietly, reluctantly accepting their fates.

Seryu deftly chambered a round in her other tonfa and pointed both of them at the remaining prisoners, her brow furrowed in that twisted determination the public knew her all too well for. She knew there was no turning back now. In the name of justice…no, in the name of her father, she would commit another series of murders today.

"In the name of justice…"

CRACK!

"…I will wipe you evil-doers from the face of the Earth…"

CRACK!

"…in the name of absolute justice!"

* * *

CRACK! "One hundred and forty-eight…" CRACK! "One hundred and forty-nine…" CRACK! "One fifty!"

The twenty year old man put down the axe and took a small rag, wiping his brow with it. The morning sun, in-between the horizon and bearing down over everything like an oppressive overlord, illuminated the village below, bringing out the best qualities of the midsummer while mitigating the negative aspects. The young man, along with a middle-aged man, were in the backyard of one of the houses that overlooked the village, cutting firewood from logs acquired from the village's mill under the shade of trees that were on the border between large forest and the village. Although the trees could not do anything about the encroaching summer heat, they provided much-wanted protection from the sun and the soothing, rustling sound between branches whenever the wind blew.

The boy inhaled the crisp air. He had taken off his shirt in order to keep it from being covered in sweat. His lean body was covered in sweat, which gave off a slight sheen, even in the shade of the trees. He took a look at the village below them. The shadows that the roofs of the small abodes gave off created black-and-brown patterns, much like a fall scarf. He could see small, moving specks of bright colors, and when he concentrated his focus on the scene below he could've sworn that he could hear children laughing. The new day was in full swing in this small village. He couldn't help but melancholically smile. After all, today was his last day here.

He blinked and turned his attention his attention to the man, who just brought the axe down on a log. CRACK! The man flipped his head back and exhaled noisily. "Finally…" He looked at the boy and smiled. "Finished there, sonny?"

The boy flashed a smile and a thumbs up in return. "Yeah! It wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

The man laughed. "That's only because you don't have rickety old bones." He cleared the firewood off the stump and sat down on it, looking over the village. "Come, sit."

Shrugging, the boy sat down, lazily putting his shirt back on. Sitting in silence, the two looked out on the village. Clouds lazily floated by, and it seemed that the village was a bit more lively now, as adults began waking up and going about their daily lives.

The man finally broke the silence and sighed. "So, you're leavin' today, Saido?"

Saido, who was watching a lone cloud block out the sun, nodded. "I've already been here long enough, and even a day more would be overstaying my welcome."

The man scoffed. "Don't put it like that. After you killed that Danger Beast in these woods a few weeks ago, letting you live here a while is the least we can do for you. In our eyes, you're a hero to us." He leaned forward and propped his head up on one of his hands. "But, I suppose there's nothing I or anyone can do to make you to stay even one more day."

Saido shook his head. "No, sir, sorry. All of you guys are awesome, but I need keep going. I just…" Saido stopped of all a sudden and blinked. Why _was_ he leaving? "…I just have to." Saido blinked again. There it was again. He was leaving because he had to.

The man, looking at Saido, nodded. Although his answer was extremely vague, he seemed to empathize with the boy. "Very well. If that's the case, at least take these." He grabbed a bag of something and handed it to the boy, who was mildly curious at first. "This should pay for the ammo that you spent killing that Danger Beast, and then some."

Saido sweatdropped and put his hands up. "Sir? That's a lot of gold, I…I can't take this. And then there's the recession, what about you and your wife?"

He scoffed again. "You're too kind for your own good, Saido. My wife and I discussed it and we agreed it would be best for you. Now go on and take the gold before I get angry."

Unwilling to make someone he'd gotten know angry, Saido sighed and took the bag of gold. He got up and pat down his shirt. "Thank you sir. I won't forget this."

"We won't forget you and what you did for us either, sonny." The old man got up and sighed. He suddenly opened his eyes, as if he remember something. "Oh crap." He put his face in his hands and sighed. "Oh crap…"

"What is it? Is there something wrong?"

"We just chopped 300 logs total, which leaves us with 600 pieces of firewood. All 600 pieces are up here, and we need to get them down to the village. Would you mind helping me…?"

Saido grinned. "You don't have to ask twice, sir." He picked up three pieces of firewood and began the walk down.

* * *

By noon, Saido was now fully dressed and ready to leave. He donned a black duster, and beneath that a tough leather vest, and the shirt he put on earlier that morning. A green scarf hung loosely around his neck. Over his vest was a utility harness that held pouches for magazines, explosives, and a holster for his pistol. His jeans, which were a slightly darker color than his shirt, were littered with various pockets, most of which were empty. His sneakers showed obvious wear, although he knew he'd give them up when he either found a better pair, or died. In his hand was the Imperial Army's standard issue assault rifle, and on his back were a backpack filled with assorted goods and a long knife, all of which had been under extreme duress. A combat helmet hung by his side, one of its straps tucked between the belt itself and his pants.

Saido found himself at the entrance of the village, looking out at the expanse of land that sprawled before him. He knew many routes of the country by heart – it was one of the perks he simply picked after being a wanderer for so long.

He sighed. _"Damn, don't I wish I could stay just a little longer."_ He thought. He put his hands behind his head and stretched. _"Then again, I say that about every village. Best to just go with the flow, I guess."_

He stroked his jet-black hair and rubbed his chin. "Alright, time for the next job." He took a step on the dirt path. It was just another day that his life took him where it pleased.

"Saido-san!"

Saido turned to see three young children running towards him. Their faces shone as brightly as the sun, and he couldn't help but smile at the positivity that they gave off. He got down on one knee and open his arms, welcoming a hug. In a few short second, the kids wrapped their arms around him, hugging onto him as if he were the softest teddy bear from a capitol toy store.

Saido grinned. On one hand, kids like these were part of the reason he wished he could stay a bit longer. Such warmth, such innocence…it could make him forget all about the outside world. On the other hand…

"Haha, I missed you too, kiddos…" Saido strained out. The one child in the middle was hugging his neck very tightly. "C'mon now, get off so Saido-san can look at you tater tots properly."

The kids released the hug and Saido rubbed his throat, coughing a little bit. The child in the middle looked at him with some concern. "Are you okay, Saido-san?"

"Yeah, yeah, I just choked on my own spit, that's all. You know how that feels, right?" He winked at the child while rubbing his throat with two fingers.

He examined the three children in front of him, and just a look at their appearance made him remember their names. Pamela wore a light-yellow frilled dress, matching sandals, and had her auburn hair tied into a bun. Although her appearance seemed normal for her age, she actually was more active than most girls her age, and her friends found it normal to see her playing sports with them. Ron wore a t-shirt, shorts, and a pair of sneakers. Nothing on the outside truly stuck out about Ron, but it came a surprise to Saido to find out that Ron was extremely eloquent for his age and was the class president. Finally, Mochi, the smartest kid in the whole class, wore his usual long sleeved striped shirt, khaki pants and loafers. He almost always had a can of soda in one hand, and his other hand ready to adjust his round-rimmed glasses.

"What're you three doing out here anyways? Shouldn't you three be in school right now?"

"It's lunch time right now! We came to give you this before you left!" Pamela held out a white bag that bulged out at the bottom. "Our moms made you lunch!"

Saido smiled and took the bag. "Tell your mothers domo arigato, and that because of them I won't have to make my own lunch today." He put the bag down and extended his arms again. "I need to go now, but…how about one more hug for good luck?" Almost instinctively, the three children collectively hugged him, and held on almost as if Saido was going off to war. At long last, they let go.

Saido affectionately ruffled each of their heads. "Get back to school now, alright? I don't you guys missing class because of me."

"Will you be back, Saido-san?" Mochi asked, giving him puppy eyes.

"Mochi, don't *urp* be such a baby. I'm *urp* pretty sure that Saido-san will return one day." Ron replied.

"Aww geez, Ron, won't you cover your mouth when you do that?" Mochi replied. The two boys were the best of friends, and it seemed like Ron and Mochi were getting into trouble every other day for something that they did.

"Relax, guys. Yeah, I'll be back soon." Saido interrupted. "I don't know when, but I promise I'll be back again."

"You better keep that promise!" Pamela pouted. Off in the distance, the four of them could hear an adult shouting.

"Oh no, that's the teacher! We'll get detention if we're too late! Come on guys!" Pamela turned on her heels to run back to class, but not before flashing a huge grin to Saido and waving goodbye. Ron and Mochi followed suit.

"Come on, Mochi! We need to *urp* need to get back before we get detention!"

"Oh man, Ron, I mean I just wanted to talk to Saido-san a bit more. Hey, when we get back can you help me with my homework?"

"Well, as long as you doooo*urp*n't copy off of me again, sure why not."

"You better hurry! If I come back and hear that you guys were ever late, I won't visit!" Saido yelled at the running trio, who returned a simultaneous "Okay!". As the children scurried back to class, he quickly lost sight of them. The village, at the moment, was completely peaceful again, save for the sound of the wind blowing through grass. For a few moments he took in his surroundings.

By noon, almost all of the townspeople were inside their homes, taking a lunch break. Only a few men and women were outside, either doing chores or simply taking time off. The man who he had been working with earlier sat outside, a lit cigarette in hand. He smiled at Saido and raised his hand as a goodbye gesture, to which Saido responded in kind. This village was almost like every other village he had visited during his travels. The townspeople loved him, and treated him like one of their own. It always pained him a bit to leave every time, but he knew he would bump ways with them again on his travels.

With a heavy but firm heart, Saido took one last look at the place he'd grown to call home for the past few weeks, took a deep breath, turned around, and began walking to his next destination.

* * *

Saido hit the ground with a thud. "Alright, let's see what we got here…" Undoing the knot on the bag, he removed a small gray box from the bag and opened its contents. Saido licked his lips – he usually got home-cooked meals as a reward from his line of work, but the fresh taste that each house brought never got old. Today, the reward consisted of the eccentric combination of a supple cheeseburger, some dumplings, and fried rice.

"They packed chopsticks too…how nice of them." Using the chopsticks, Saido quickly picked up a dumpling and popped it in his mouth.

The taste of salt, pepper, lukewarm meat oil, and other various spices hit his taste buds, and he closed his eyes as the sensations washed over him. Other than the shelter that he asked for in place of monetary rewards, the home-cooked meals were the best part of why he loved his line of work. Saido swallowed the first dumpling and immediately picked up another one.

As he chewed, he could not help but take in his surroundings. Birds could be heard chirping every now and then, their conversation interrupted by the occasional rustling of a cicada. The wind no longer blew through the trees, so in order to avoid becoming terribly hot Saido found shade under the leaves of an average sized tree on the side of the road. The mid-afternoon sun was nestled comfortably in the sky, and the presence of clouds in the sky had not changed either. The road was one way – to his right was the way back to the town he left this morning, and to the left was his destination. He could neither hear nor see anybody coming from either side. He was alone on this dirt road, and it seemed like it was going to be that way for a while. There wasn't anybody else for miles around. No, it was just him and himself only.

A slight purr distracted Saido from his quiet little revelry. Well, it was just him and something else. He looked down at his feet to see a small orange and yellow-striped cat, which was sitting down and looking straight back at him.

Saido's eyes were fixated on the cat, and the cat's on him. His attention taken away from the tranquil environment, he engaged in a staring contest with a kitten out in the middle of a forest. He was glad that nobody was outside to find them staring at each other like this, because out of all the stupid things he'd done before he was sure that he couldn't get any more idiotic with what he was doing right now. The two kept staring, nothing breaking their attention.

"…"

"…"

Saido shrugged and shoved a third dumpling in his mouth. If animals could've sweatdropped, the cat would've done so a dozen times over. Still, it was determined to not give up. Walking over to him, it began rubbing against his leg and purring.

Saido grunted and tried to ignore the needy animal. Cats in the Empire were notorious for being irresistibly cute, but he wasn't going to let a little animal get the jump on him. No way was a little…a little…a little cat going to…

The cat started mewling in addition to what it was currently doing, and soon after Saido groaned. He had snapped.

"What do you want?" He groaned, looking at the cat. Satisfied, the cat took a few steps away from him, its tail up in a show of haughtiness. It was now that Saido noticed something shiny around its neck. He desired to inspect further, but by now the cat had walked a few circles. It sat down facing him and opened its mouth, its face showing eagerness.

He grimaced. _"So…damn, that's so cute!"_ He thought. There wasn't any way he would be able to forgive himself if he let this cute little animal down. He took a look inside the box in his hands to see what he could spare. _"Let's see…it's obviously not going to want the burger, not the rice…I guess this dumpling will have to do. This…last dumpling."_ A piece of him tore at him in giving away his last dumpling away, but the cat's needs came first. He fished out the dumpling and gave it to the cat, which immediately took the dumpling in its two front paws and began nibbling on it. His heart nearly jumped out at the sight of such a cute thing.

Saido sighed and started working on his rice. _"It's best that I finish this now, before this little ball of fur wants anymore."_ He smiled at the thought of the cat nibbling bits of a giant cheeseburger.

* * *

"Alright, that was satisfying." Saido closed the lunchbox and put it back in the bag which it came in. "Sucks that I couldn't finish the burger, but oh well." He got up and stretched his limbs. "Alright, time to get back on the trail."

The small cat mewled at him, causing him to flinch. He had completely forgotten that it was still there. "Were you watching me all this time?" It nodded, which disturbed him even more. _"It understands me…"_

He sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "Look, do you still need something from me…?" It shook its head. Before he could inquire any further, the cat bowed, causing something to fall off of it.

"Hm?" Now curious, Saido bent down to examine what it had just dropped on the ground. _"A necklace…so this is what was on its neck."_ He cautiously put his hand on his sidearm. _"Still, this could be a trap…"_ He slowly inched towards the necklace in order to get a better look. He spared the cat a glance, and nearly shrunk away with the look of disappointment on its face. He quickly looked back towards the necklace.

The chain itself wasn't exactly very spectacular. It was a simple box chain design, each link a generic brass color. The pendants that hung on the end of the chain, however, were intricately designed. Two metal octagons, each lined with chrome, hung loosely on the end of the chain, one white and one black. If he strained hard enough, Saido could see the ground through each of the octagons, and if he relaxed his focus he could make out his distorted reflection in the small pendants. The area where the two octagons visibly blended was the most interesting - instead of creating a solid gray hue, there were many grays swirling around in the mixture, almost as if it were a vat of different shades of gray.

He looked at the cat to see if it could him any clues on what he should do next. In a show of exasperation, the cat slowly bobbed its head down and forward, then retracted it, all the while looking at him.

" _It…wants me to put it on?"_ Bewildered, his eyes shifted between the impatient-looking animal and the strange necklace.

" _Well, if this is a trap, I'm sure I would've been ambushed by now…"_ He slowly retracted his hand from his pistol and reached for the necklace. Other than the cat in front of him and various woodland creatures, Saido could not sense anything else in their vicinity.

As he picked it up, the chain felt lukewarm to the touch. He turned it in his hands a few times to take a good look at it as the sun danced off the various links. Slowly, he put it on, not once taking his eyes off the cat.

The necklace hung loosely by his neck, the two octagons jingling quietly by his sternum. Saido took them in his hand, the dirty amalgam of black and white formed by the overlapping pendants completely taking his attention.

" _Can you hear me?"_

Saido's eyes widened in panic. Instinctually, he pulled out his pistol and scanned his surroundings. Whoever managed to get the drop on him was able to mask their presence from him, and at the same time speak in a way that made it impossible to discern their location. He quickly spun around, his hands firmly grasping his pistol.

"Who's there? Come out into the open and identify yourself." The voice sighed, and now that Saido had heard the voice a second time he noticed that he had not heard anything that stood out from the ambient background.

" _Next to you, human."_ Saido turned around once again, his eyes flicking back and forth. In a flash, his left hand pulled out his knife and brought it close to his face in a defensive posture. His brow furrowed, his previous panic turned to concentration. "I still can't see you, whoever you are. This is your last chance to come out into the open peacefully."

" _Below you, the cat that wanted your food."_

In an instant, Saido whirled around and pointed his gun at the cat. He knew that this thing wanted something more from him, and-

" _Wait…this cat?"_

He put away his knife and lowered his gun. Now that he thought about it, an invisible assailant seemed rather unlikely, and he couldn't detect anything else in their general vicinity. But a talking cat bordered outlandish and impossible.

" _And yet I'm right here communicating with you, am I not?"_ Saido blinked and looked at the cat, its tail idly waving and its face wearing the same look of disappointment he saw not too long ago.

He bent down so that the two were nearly face to face. "You're…talking with me?"

The cat rolled its eyes, which Saido never thought he'd see happen. _"A rhetorical question deserves a rhetorical answer, human. Yes."_

He groaned. "You could drop the sarcasm. It's not every day that I actually talk with a striped cat, and I'm probably the only one who has ever done so."

" _Well, you're not crazy. I am actually talking with you, so there you have it."_

Saido leaned back and sat down. "How, though? Unless I am actually crazy, contrary to what I'm hearing from you right now."

The cat rolled its eyes again, got up, and walked towards him. _"You might not be crazy, but you're definitely paranoid. I'm communicating with you through that necklace."_ Saido perked up and took the necklace in one of his hands to examine the two pendants on the end.

" _Yes, that necklace. To put it simply, it's a telepathic communicating device. With this, our minds are linked. I will hear any thoughts from you that are directed to me, and from you, I."_

Saido balled his hand into a fist, processing what he had just heard. If what the cat was telling him was true, then…

" _You can hear me, then?"_ He thought.

The cat's face brightened. _"Ah, now you're getting the hang of it."_

He exhaled noisily. _"Alright, well I'm not gonna…I'm not gonna get used to..to this."_

" _Do you have trouble communicating telepathically?"_ Saido grimaced as the cat grinned.

" _Yes, yes I have…"_ He holstered his gun and hung his throbbing head in his hands. This was simply too much to take in. "Yeah, I have trouble talking telepathically."

" _A pity I can't talk then. It looks like you'll have to get used to a telepathic cat."_

He looked up. "What do you mean, used too?" The cat approached him and began rubbing against his leg once more.

" _Oh, I was just hoping to accompany you. You did feed me, after all. It is the least I can do."_

Saido blinked. "You want to accompany me? Ummm…" He bit his lip. It was too much for him to take in – he was still coming down from his adrenaline rush from when the cat first 'talked' to him, processing the fact that it was communicating with him through the necklace that he wore and now the fact that this cat wanted to accompany him to his next stop. Whatever part of his mind that was left not processing this overload of information feebly created a response.

"…sure, why not." He couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth, but at the moment he didn't want to think about it – his mind was plenty blown already. With a sigh, Saido got up, picked up his bags, and began walking down the road. "Follow me. We're a few hours from where I need to go."

The cat enthusiastically jumped up and began trotting by his side. _"Let's go, then. By the way, human, I never asked for your name."_

"That you didn't. It's Saido. And you?"

There was a pause where the cat seemed to be lost in thought, and the only sound that Saido heard was the crunching of gravel under his feet.

"… _Tai. My name is Tai."_

Saido nodded and looked back to the road. "I'll just say it. This is the weirdest freaking thing I've experienced all month, Tai."

" _It's nice to meet you as well, Saido."_

* * *

" _This is where you needed to go?"_ Although Tai couldn't speak, Saido could practically hear the disgust dripping off its telepathic voice.

The two of them had arrived at a tavern as dusk began to settle in. The tavern was cleverly located at an intersection that combined roads that led to various destinations. As a result, many passing travelers would often pay for a meal, a room, or both here. The heavy traffic also brought job offers, which were posted on a bulletin board outside of the entrance. Saido himself had frequented this particular tavern for this particular bulletin board.

Like he had done so many times, Saido approached the bulletin and took a poster. He strained his eyes to read it under the dimming light. After brief consideration, he put the poster back in its place and took another one.

" _Hey, are you even listening? Why are you here?"_ Tai trod to Saido's side, looking at him with confusion written on its face.

"I'm looking for a job." Saido muttered, putting back yet another poster.

" _I'd think that you'd appraise job offers a little more carefully."_

"I'm just looking for certain aspects. The rest is unnecessary."

Tai telepathically huffed. _"I would think that someone as paranoid as you would be more careful about something like job details."_

Saido remained silent, still scouring over posters. He pulled yet another poster from the board. However, this time his eyes widened slightly. His interest had clearly been piqued.

"This is the one," He said. Folding it neatly, he put it in his back pocket and promptly turned to head into the tavern.

" _W-wait! Geez, you could've told me if we're going somewhere."_

Saido stopped and turned towards Tai with a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry. I get caught up in the moment sometimes, and I don't usually have company with me. Let alone a cat."

Tai pouted. _"Well, I'll forgive you this time. But can you at least show me the offer you took?"_

Saido nodded and took the poster out of his back pocket, dropping it on the ground for Tai to see. With all the dexterity expected of a cat, Tai unfolded the poster and held it down with its two front paws. The whole scene would be rather humorous to any passerby, really – a young man watching a cat stretching out on a piece of paper.

" _Let's see here…a village to the west is being harassed weekly by a herd of rabid giant mantises…contract is considered to be extremely risky and rated by the Imperial Rangers as the highest risk contract of the week in this region?!"_ Alarmed, Tai shot its head up to look at Saido, whose reaction was about as neutral to this as one could be.

"…what?"

" _Do you see what this contract entails? Giant rabid mantises?! The normal sized ones are bad enough, but this!"_

"No big deal. I'll adapt and overcome," Saido deadpanned. He picked up the piece of paper and put it back into his pocket so nonchalantly Tai had to do a double take.

" _I'm not comfortable with you sticking your neck so far out on the line like this! This is basically a death wish!"_

"The highest risk jobs are also the most rewarding," Saido quietly said, turning back to enter the tavern. Tai was about to add to its tirade about how reckless his decision was, but 'shut' its mouth. The reward listed on the poster was indeed generous, but something in the young man's tone raised a red flag in Tai's head, and for a split second it wondered if he had another motive.

The cat shook its head and pushed the red flag to the back of its mind, scurrying to rejoin its companion.

* * *

The wooden door creaked open to reveal a lively scene. Travelers from all corners of the Empire drank and laughed together, reveling in the lively and comforting scenery that the inside of the tavern provided. The room was a large square split into three levels, each level slightly lower than the last and connected by small flights of stairs. The first level contained the barkeep's general area, stairs to the second floor which contained the guest rooms, and tables, which were mostly occupied. The second level contained tables of different shapes and sizes to serve parties of different shapes and sizes. These too, were mostly occupied. On the third and lowest level was a stage made of transparent glass squares. Tonight's entertainment seemed to be an upstart ginger with a funny accent crooning about love while playing the guitar as if he had done so since he was born. The men didn't pay the singer much attention, but almost every woman on the second and third level were fawning over him. He practically oozed charisma.

Saido spotted two free stools at the end of the front bar and beckoned Tai to follow him. He walked at a brisk pace, feeling the cold glares from three burly men situated on the second level. He reached the front bar, pulled out the two stools, and sat down, the cat hopping up on the one to his left. Saido rapped the tabletop in an attempt to get the attention of the barkeeper.

The barkeeper was a wiry man who wore an oversized apron over his casual work attire. His eyes were glazed over as he robotically cleaned beer mugs, exhaustion etched for all to see on his face. To anybody that met this man the first time, they'd pass him off as a machine of a man. To Saido, this was just his friend working on the clock.

He forcefully slammed the tabletop with his right hand and raised it in the air. "Hey, Ollie!"

The barkeeper blinked, his bleary eyes refocusing on whatever he was staring out. He turned towards the source of his name to find one of his friends waving at him, along with a cat staring at him.

Ollie smiled and approached the two. "Hey Saido. It's good to see you again." His face shone with the genuine happiness of seeing a long-lost friend, then reverted back to characteristics that accompanied sleepiness.

"Likewise. Has tonight been especially tough? You look like you could pass out at any moment. Then again, when _don't_ you look half dead?"

Ollie sighed and placed the washcloth-stuffed mug down. He placed his hands on the tabletop to prop himself up, directly looking at Saido. "Oh, how I missed your little quips. But to answer your question, kind of. It's just been a lot of the usual – hulking adventurers breaking stuff, drunk Imperial Army units drinking everything, angst-filled lone wanderers giving me sob stories..." He looked to Saido's left, smiling. "And who might this little ball of fur be?" He reached out and stroked Tai's cheek, who flinched at the sudden movement at first, but then began purring at the sudden attention.

"Ah, it's just some cat that I met on my way here. Tai's its name."

"Well, aren't you just the most adorable thing in this province." Ollie retracted his hand and looked at Saido. "How about I get you your usual on the house, and this little kitty some milk?"

Tai nodded excitedly at the prospect, and Saido grinned. "That'd be much obliged, Ollie."

"A vanilla beer and pan of warm milk, coming right up." Now with a temporary boost of energy, Ollie headed to the other side of the bar to prepare the drinks.

" _Your friend seems nice."_

Saido opened his mouth to respond but remember he was in public. _"Yeah, he's a good friend, friend. He and I go b-b-back a while."_ He closed his eyes in frustration, still not used to thinking out verbal communications.

" _Are you having trouble talking telepathically?"_

" _What gave-gave it away, Dete-te-te-…tective,"_ He sarcastically thought, focusing below on some obscene messages carved into the wooden tabletop.

" _It'll be hard at first, but if you keep doing so you'll get better at it."_

" _And how do you know tha- know that?"_

" _Don't you humans always say 'practice makes perfect'?"_

Saido scoffed. He was about to pull out his knife to carve out a response to one of the messages when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Looking to his right, he saw a cloaked figure sitting next to him, their arm outreached. The person's cloaked completely covered their body, so he could make no observations about their outward appearance. Nor did he think that he would need to – the first street rule of the Empire and its provinces was to not make contact with anybody inconspicuous unless you were sure they had something to do with you. In the tavern's somewhat dim lighting, however, he was able to catch a glimpse of silver hair.

Saido felt hidden eyes scan over his features, and he shivered. This person obviously wanted something from him, and in this crowded space there weren't many ways to put distance between them without resorting to violence, and Ollie had a strict zero-tolerance policy regarding fighting of any kind.

He cleared his throat. "Can…I help you, stranger?"

Before he could say anything else, the person procured a piece of paper and slid it towards Saido.

He raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "What's this?"

With no response, the person got up from their seat and disappeared into the crowd.

"Hey, wait!" Saido reached out to the leaving stranger, but by the time the last syllable was about to leave his lips they had blended perfectly into the lively crowd. He scanned the crowd for a few moments to try to identify the stranger. _"Nothing…how odd."_ Turning back to the bar, he took the piece of paper and unfolded it.

 _When you're finished here, meet me outside._

"Huh." He muttered to himself. He looked over his shoulder on the off chance that he could see the stranger, but once again he found nothing.

"A pan of warm milk and a locally-brewed vanilla beer, served!" He turned to see Ollie gently putting down a small pan on the tabletop. Tai, its attention completely occupied by the milk at this point, near vaulted over the tabletop, its eyes sparkling like shooting stars. He then set a large clear mug of beer in front of Saido, bubbles rising from the bottom through the sparkling liquid.

"Oh, thanks." Saido put the paper down and took a long swig. He put the mug down, following up with an extended burp. "Your beer-making skills are on point as always."

"Thanks, friend." Ollie leaned forward and propped his head on his hand. "So you took the contract again?" Saido nodded, causing Ollie to sigh. "I say this every time, but I wish you didn't have to risk yourself like this."

"And every time you say that I come back in one piece."

Ollie wanted to push further, but chose not to. Every time he brought up this topic, it ended up being a circular conversation. He had concluded some time ago that Saido was trying to avoid talking about the events of the past and that to some degree he really didn't care about his own wellbeing.

In any case, the wiry man pointed to the piece of paper in his hand. "Is that it?"

"This? Oh no, it's…it's something that the person here gave to me."

Ollie clicked his tongue. "Ah, yeah, I was kinda expecting that."

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'expecting'?"

"Oh, it's nothing. What happened was, that person next to you? She's a regular here."

"The person next to me was a woman?"

"Yep. Today she came in all stressed, talking about how she and her family just defended their home from a joint Danger Beast/raiding party."

Saido whistled. "Sounds like a week's work rolled into a day."

"Yeah, and from the looks of it I thought she could use some more help. So…"

"…so?"

"So I started talking about how you kill Danger Beasts and raiders like it's an everyday chore, how you take the most dangerous contracts without hesitation. She didn't believe me until I mentioned you by name."

"Wait, wait, wait. You mentioned me by name?" Saido emphasized 'name', underlining the panic that destroyed his buzz and began to creep into his mind.

"Yeah, she asked me about your kills and how you did them. So I pulled up a couple of old newspapers and told her that you'd be around sometime today. Next thing you now, she scribbles something down on the counter, puts it in her pocket, and she's sat there ever since." Ollie (and Tai, who was contentedly licking away at the milk pan) was completely oblivious to Saido's panic.

"Jeez, what did I tell you about mouthing me to strangers? You know I don't like or need the attention."

Ollie, realizing his mistake, cupped his mouth with both hands, his eyes wide in shock. "S-sorry! I forget, and…oh god, they're not gonna send people after you, right?! Y-you're not gonna die, are you?! I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry!"

Saido got up and put his hands on his friend's shoulders, trying to get him to calm down. "Look, it's fine. It was a dumb move to make, but it's fine. I'm sure th-she doesn't mean any harm."

Ollie nodded, now downcast. "Sorry, Saido."

"It's fine," He sat back down on the stool and took another swig of bear. "Still, that doesn't really explain how she recognizes me, and the thing I'm supposed to be 'finished' with here."

The wiry barkeeper's head shot up as he snapped his fingers. "Right! Well, I did give a rather descriptive description of your appearance, so that obviously helped her." Saido quietly groaned. On top of being of a cloaked stranger's particular interest, he now knew she was actively watching him.

"Also…" He leaned in and beckoned the young man to come closer, which he did. "I told her that there's been another group of mercenaries angry that you've been taking the big contracts. Don't look now, but they're glaring lightning bolts at you. I'm pretty sure that they'll make a move once I go serve someone else."

"This is the 'thing' she wanted me 'finish'?"

"Mhm."

Saido's fingers rapped around the handle of the mug. "What are my options?"

"It would be nice if you could talk them out of it," Ollie said, looking at Saido with pleading eyes. "I just got new replacements for some of the inventory here."

Saido kept his eyes on the table, drinking slowly. "Do you think I could talk my way out of this one?"

Ollie bit his lip. "Well…"

"Come on, mister ex-intelligence-and-strategic-analyst, we both know how this is going down."

Ollie hit Saido on the shoulder. "You know I hate being called that," he chided, "but unfortunately, for your question, no. Not this time…" His mood darkened. "…and not the last five times this happened."

Saido tapped his chin, thinking. After a few moments he pulled out a few gold coins and slid them towards Ollie. "I'll be needing this mug then, dude. Sorry."

Ollie hung his head and sighed. "It can't be helped." He pocketed the coins. "If you keep damage to a minimum, I'll call half off on all drinks until we close."

Saido finished the last of his beer and nodded. "No guarantees, but I'll try."

"Do your thing, friend." Ollie turned his head and shouted to the other end of the bar, "Yeah, I'm coming!" With that, he left Saido and Tai to their own devices.

" _What was that all about?"_ Tai looked up from the pan, its face covered in white milk.

"We're about to have company. Well, more specifically, I am," Saido explained in a hushed voice.

" _Company?...oh. I see. Alright, I'll stay out of the way, as I am a cat, and cats aren't usually good fighters."_

"Smart choice." The two of them heard the distinct scraping of chairs being pushed out and the growing sound of jingling metal coming from behind them.

" _Well, that's my cue to leave."_ Tai leapt off the stool and started trotting behind the bar, but then turned its head. _"Oh, and Saido?"_

" _Yeah?"_

" _I'm a male cat, by the way."_

Saido raised an eyebrow at the cat. _"Alright…is this…supposed to help me in any way, or…"_

Tai shook his head. _"I had a feeling you'd refer to me as 'it' in the future unless I pointed it out. In either case, good luck."_ With that, Tai disappeared behind the counter.

Saido resumed looking into his empty glass mug. Bar fights, among many other things, seemed to be something that followed him wherever he went. Although they were only minor inconveniences, he did feel sorry for the barkeeps that had to clean up the mess that ensued. That, and he lamented that they weren't better fighters.

But not today. Today, he'd keep damage to a minimum.

He barely had time to affirm to himself he'd end it quickly and cleanly before a large meaty hand clasped him on the shoulder, causing him to cough in surprise. "Havin' fun there, Walker?" A low, throaty voice slurred from behind him.

Quickly regaining his composure, he looked over his shoulder nonchalantly to see his challengers and was instantly greeted with the powerful smell of alcohol that heavy drinkers usually reeked of. Grimacing, he analyzed his opponents with the small time space he was given.

There were three of them. The one who had his hand on Saido's shoulder was perhaps the drunkest, as evident by his slurred speech and beer stained facial hair. He was a good head taller than Saido, and definitely a few bellies bigger. One lanky man behind him precariously leaned on a railing, threatening to knock over a flower pot. Saido could immediately tell through his hate-filled looks that he was on the verge of passing out, struggling to glare at the young man and stay awake at the same time. The last man, standing on the top of some stairs, was of modest stature. In comparison to the rather middle-aged looks of the other two, this mercenary seemed to be Saido's age. What caught his eye was the way one of his hands was placed on his hip and his rather concentrated look. He most likely had a gun and was ready to pull it out at a moment's notice.

He brought the glass mug to his lips in order to appear to be drinking something. The two drunkards could be taken out easily, but the hypothetical gunman would definitely prove to be a problem. He would have to act fast and with precision if he was to win this cleanly.

"Hey! Are you hard of hearing, Walker?! Or has all of our money made you deaf?! Huh?! Answer me!" The drunk mercenary roared into Saido's ear, causing his eye to twitch in annoyance.

He turned around to face the three, wearing a disarming smile. "Ah, sorry there! It's just been a really long day, claiming bounties and what not. I'm just a bit tired, that's all."

The mercenary took a step back, successfully off-put by the cheery response. His cohorts seemed to be affected as well, their expression softening. "Ah, I see," he grumbled. His hostile demeanor returned almost immediately once he realized what he had come for. "Wait a minute! You're taking a bite out of our paychecks and we're sure as shit not leaving until you give us what you owe us!"

Saido, still feigning ignorance, blinked. "I'm sorry, I did? I didn't mean to. The pay just looked good to me." They backed down a bit more, showing that his innocent act was going along well enough. At this point he decided to add a bit of snarkiness to his tone. "And well, you said that those are your paychecks? If you wanted a stable paycheck you'd take a cushy civilian job." Saido replied, adding a small laugh at the end.

The mercenaries visibly bristled. He had pushed them to the edge, but not nearly enough for them to be making mistakes. He deduced that one last insult should do the trick.

"Or is it because you're too weak to take on contracts that your 'paycheck' is dropping?" His expression was still disarmingly innocent, but his voice now dripped with derision.

The mercenary who approached Saido was practically fuming at this point. He stomped over to the young man's seat, fumbling for his weapon. "Now you listen here, you little-"

" _Perfect,"_ Saido thought.

Without a second to spare he grabbed the mercenary by the back of the head and forcefully slammed his face into the tabletop with all the strength he could muster. The distinct thud that the collision made attracted the attention of the whole bar, who were now watching the unfolding bar fight.

The mercenary, unconscious, slid to the ground in a pitiful heap, mumbling incoherently. His two cohorts looked on in shock as their hulk of a leader was beaten in one blow by who they thought was some scrawny kid. The lanky one could only helplessly look on as Saido deftly advanced towards him, grabbing his mug from the table in the process. In two steps, the young man closed the gap between them and swung the mug bottom into his face as if it were a blunt weapon. With a resounding _thwack_ , the lanky mercenary's head snapped to the side and his body collapsed onto the railing he was leaning on.

" _That's two down,"_ Saido though, looking down at the opponent he just knocked out. His eyes glanced towards his last remaining enemy, who was practically shaking in his boots. Despite seeing two of his comrades get decked in a matter of seconds, he still wouldn't give up. His hand reached for the holster on his leg.

"D-d-damn you, you son of a bitch!" The now-confirmed gunman now firmly gripped his gun, causing Saido to see a reflection off of the shiny chrome hammer. Saido's pupils dilated and his mind began processing his situation – although the gunman was clearly shaken by how quickly he had dispatched of the others, his panic would set him on edge and make him even more of a threat to everyone in the bar. Saido quickly affirmed his course of action - he would throw himself in a bullet's pathway if that was what it took to win.

As the gunman drew his piece, Saido advanced towards him, dropping the beer mug and training his eyes on the position of the gun.

He took another step to the right. The revolver was out of the holster.

He took another step to the left. The gunman's elbow was bent at a right angle, the barrel pointed at the ground.

He took another step to the right. The revolver was nearing its final destination, its holder's brow furrowing.

At last the revolver was finally pointed at Saido's face, the intimidation factor it gave off emphasized by the steely look on the gunman's face. Anybody in that position would have realized that they were outgunned and would have surrendered. The sheer size of the revolver itself could act as a deterrent against further aggression.

Saido, however, spotted a flaw in the gunman's position, and instead opted to smack the gun out of his field of view. His opponent, now shocked and clueless as to what was going on now, lost his balance momentarily, giving the young man the opportunity he needed. A flurry of punches hailed on the gunman, each successful hit causing him to lose a bit more of his situational awareness. As Saido pulled back from the last punch, his opponent took two steps back, clearly dazed. His hand shot forward, and in the blink of an eye he finished the fight. He held the gunman's throat in an iron vice, slightly lifting him off the ground. The gunman, whose face was slowly turning red, dropped the gun and gripped Saido's arm in a vain effort to relieve the pressure.

Unwavering, Saido took a few steps towards the stairs, his opponent in tow. He abruptly stopped at the edge of the first step, and using his body momentum, he threw the last mercenary down the stairs. The bar, which had been relatively quiet up until this point in the fight, erupted into cheers and whistles at the emergence of a victor, drowning the crashes and bumps as the loser fell down the stairs and face-planted into the glass floor of the bottom-most level.

The mercenary, now very disoriented and dizzy, made a futile attempt to stand up, groggily moaning all the while. Collapsing on the floor, he moaned again. A sudden wetness on his lips caught his attention. Bringing his fingers to his lips, he noticed that he was having a nosebleed. "Damn," he hissed to himself, ignoring the noise around him, "who is this guy?"

The crowd's cheering quickly turned into a shocked gasp, and the room fell silent as the creaking of stair steps became the only noise in the room. Dazed, the mercenary looked over his shoulder to see Saido, with a steely look of his own, slowly walking down the stairs, pointing the mercenary's own gun at him.

The mercenary's pupils dilated and he instinctively put his hands up. "I surrender! Don't shoot, please!"

"Whether I shoot or not is up to how you behave." Saido made a motion with the gun. "Stand up, hands behind your head."

The mercenary, unwilling to test how far he could irritate the young man, got to his feet as quickly as he could. His defeated, disheveled appearance was a great contrast to the domineering attitude that he and his posse gave off only a few moments ago.

Saido steadily kept the gun trained on him, his stoic face unchanging. "You wanna know why you lost?" The mercenary vigorously nodded, not wanting to displease him. "It's because you didn't cock the hammer. You pulled out your weapon, and for a shooter this heavy your unholstering speed was impressive. That doesn't mean, however," Saido explained, cocking the hammer to make a point, "that you should forget to follow-through due to panic." At the audible click of the hammer being pulled back, the crowd gasped again and the mercenary yelped.

For a few terse seconds, the crowd looked on as Saido aimed the gun on the whimpering mercenary. Then he spoke again.

"I'm guessing this is the first time you've used a revolver. Hell, for all I know this could be your first time holding a handgun. Am I right?"

The mercenary didn't respond, but instead looked down at his shoes, whimpering all the while.

"Am I right?" Saido repeated.

The mercenary slowly nodded. "Y-yes…"

A few more tense seconds passed. The mercenary shut his eyes, silently begging to God that he wouldn't have his innards blown out all over this tavern's floor.

The quiet click of a gun hammer being let down caused the mercenary to open his eyes, and when he did he saw his gun slide towards him. Shocked, he looked up at Saido, who was staring straight into his eyes.

"The Empire and its provinces are rarely forgiving. Just because you've got the biggest gun in the forest," he said, motioning towards the revolver, "doesn't mean you're the strongest. You need to know how to use the assets in your hands and in your head. I'll admit, you've got guts to stand up even when it looks like you're losing, but that's not enough. So get better, and fast."

Saido turned around to head back up to the bar, but as he got on the first step of stairs, he paused. "I've given you a second chance. Don't waste it." He looked up at Ollie, who was watching the whole scene unravel in awe, and flashed him a toothy grin. "Ollie!"

Ollie flinched, but quickly regained himself! "Ah, right! Umm…" He cleared his throat. "Every drink is half off until closing tonight!" As if on cue, the cheering and the previous revelry of the tavern had returned.

The mercenary bent down picked up his revolver. His mind was completely shot by what had just transpired. He was fully expecting to die, but instead the unexpected happened. _"A second chance?"_ he thought, playing back what Saido had just said to him over and over again in his brain. His grip tightened around the gun, which felt lighter in his hold now…

" _Wait a minute! Did he really…?!"_ Panicked, the mercenary examined the cylinder of the gun in order to confirm his suspicions. Saido had, in all of the confusion of the fight, picked up the revolver and confiscated the bullets.

The mercenary smirked. Although he had been given a second chance, the young man now sitting at the front bar had been smart enough to not be taken advantage of.

* * *

" _Walker?"_

" _It's a name I got, I g-guess. D-don't read into it too-too much."_ Saido awkwardly smiled at Tai as he sat down on a stool.

" _I guess we'll have to talk about it later, because something came up. Do you remember that woman that made contact with you earlier?"_ Saido nodded, which led Tai to stick a paw in another direction. _"Over there."_

Saido looked over his shoulder to see the same cloaked figure from before standing in a corner, isolated from the party. Almost as if she had known he'd look her way, she simply nodded and headed for the entrance.

" _I'm assuming that's a cue to leave, Saido."_ Tai thought as they watched the cloaked figure leave into the night.

" _You assumed correctly. Let's go."_ Saido got up from his stool, the stoic look once again returning. Almost as if by instinct, he unholstered his pistol and cocked it, all while heading towards the entrance.

" _Wait, Saido."_

He turned. _"Yeah?"_

Tai raised an eyebrow. _"What exactly are you planning to do?"_

Saido looked down for a few seconds, then looked back up. _"I'm getting answers. I want to know what she wants with me."_

Tai hopped down from the tabletop and walked to the young man's side. _"I'd like to come too, if you don't mind. I'd like to keep you safe if things go sideways."_

Saido shrugged and resumed his walk, Tai tailing him. _"Suit yourself, but I don't know how much help a cat will be in a fight."_

" _Well, we do get pretty irritable. I doubt one would want to deal with an irritated cat."_

Ollie, now over encumbered with orders, staggered over to where Saido and Tai were sitting, using the bar as support. Finally given a reprieve from the onslaught of orders, he wanted to congratulate his friend on resolving the conflict without breaking anything or killing anybody.

"Why did I agree to half-off night again," he muttered to himself. Nevertheless, he looked up with a bright smile. "That was so awesome! And I'm amazed you didn't break anything, unlike…last…time…"

It wasn't until Ollie finished his sentence that he noticed that his friend was gone, along with that cat that came in with him. He had simply been talking to thin air.

Ollie hung his head and sighed. "Seriously, why does he always ominously disappear?"

* * *

Tai stretched his limbs and mewled, while Saido stood at the intersection, his hand still gripping his handgun. Like the sun had done earlier in the day, the moon and the various stars were now nestled in the night sky. The leaves of trees and the surrounding landscape were bathed in a dim blue glow, characteristic of a clear, starry night. If it weren't for the situation he found himself in, he would've found himself lying on grass, staring at the sky.

He tried to detect any presence in the area but found none other than Tai. Whoever this woman was, if she wanted to meet him outside, she had either fled the vicinity the record time, or was masking her presence. Whichever one it was, it put him on edge. He didn't like standing out in the open like this.

A slow clap interrupted the sound of chirping crickets and Tai's mewls. Saido's eyes widened and his grip on his handgun tightened. Turning towards the source of the sound, he saw the cloaked figure emerge from the shadows of a tree. A trail of smoke emerged from the hood and floated lazily in the air.

"Never would I have believed a bounty hunter would have such skill in combat. Neither would I have believed he would show mercy to those that attacked him." A somewhat deep female voice called out. She took a few more steps, then stopped. Saido and she were only a few yards apart now.

"But if you told me that I would've recognized this extremely skilled bounty hunter, I would have called you a loony." She met his wary gaze, not once flinching. "But tonight, I guess I'm the crazy one."

"I'm sorry, I think you've got the wrong person, so I doubt you're crazy." he ground out. Tai was in between his legs, glaring at the woman as well.

"No." She replied, putting both hands on the sides of her hood. "Unless my vision is acting up, I am crazy and I really _do_ know you." The woman's hood came off, revealing a feminine face illuminated by the moonlight. Her short silver hair, which truthfully gave her a more masculine than feminine look, waved in the gentle breeze. A single purple-iris containing eye met his gaze, the other eye covered by an eyepatch.

" _His aura…it's still the same as it was the last I saw him..."_ The woman smiled, a genuine, heart-felt smile. "It's been too long, Saido-kun."

Saido's posture relaxed a bit, but he did not let his guard down completely. Even if she was currently giving off a positive aura, that wasn't reason enough to blindly trust her. Her true gender was on his mind as well – she looked and nearly sounded androgynous.

"…I'm sorry, I was told that there was a woman I was supposed to meet out here. Maybe you have the wrong person." Saido explained, his gaze not moving once. The woman, however, widened her eye, and Tai looked at his friend in shock.

" _Are you stupid? That's obviously a woman!"_

" _I d-don't know that for sure, she's super androgynous."_

" _Still, did you hear yourself?! I'm a cat and even I know not to say something like that!"_

Saido's stomach dropped and his entire body became clammy when he realized what he just done. "Oh crap," were the only words that left his lips before the woman replied.

"You didn't just…no…" she hissed. Saido gulped, and although he wanted to take out his knife or gun he found himself physically incapable of doing so.

"You didn't…" She balled her right hand into a fist, which emitted a metallic noise, and looked down. She was now seething.

"Just…" She looked up, her one eye boiling with rage.

"Mistake me for a _man_!" In one swift motion, she dashed forward, reeling her right arm back for a hook, her cloak flying off into the night air. In the split second that Saido and Tai had to react, the form dived towards the ground in order to avoid the stampeding now-confirmed woman from completely decking him in one punch, the latter jumping in the other. They flew to the side, fortunately unharmed, and the woman's barrage slammed into the ground, creating a small crater and kicking up a dust cloud.

Saido coughed and aimed his pistol. "Hey, what gives?! It was an honest mistake, alright?!" He had never met anybody at all who had been so sensitive about their outwards gender appearance, nobody at all! Maybe only one person came close, and even then she wasn't as zealous-

His eyes widened as he made an implicit association. Silver hair? Purple eyes? Deep, somewhat husky voice? Fast reflexes as a fighter? Can become quite irritable when her gender is questioned?

The woman before him matched all the criteria, and yet the possibility that they were one and the same was infinitesimally small. _"But still…they're so…"_

"It couldn't be…" he muttered. The dust was beginning to clear, and he could now get a better look at the woman. Saido coughed again and called out to her. "Are you…Najenda?"

In a middle of a small crater stood Najenda, one that he barely recognized. Instead of the Imperial general's outfit that he had seen her so many times with, she now wore a black tuxedo set, the creased lines in the pants and jacket emphasized by the moonlight. He also noticed that she wasn't wearing anything underneath her tux, causing a generous amount of her cleavage to be exposed. Perhaps what caught his eye the most was the heavy green and black armor that her right arm sported, the eyepatch over her right eye, and her lack of her signature long braid of hair. Nevertheless, he could see the Najenda that he had seen and worked so much with, the determined, loyal soldier that he could always rely on in battle.

Unfortunately, she wasn't on his side this time. She turned towards him, irritation written on her face. "Yeah, it's me. And you're not getting away with that comment." She pointed her right arm towards him, and he heard a click before he suddenly saw her hand reach out and grab his collar.

"Ack! What the hell?!" He gripped her seemingly detached upper arm, futilely struggling as he was pulled towards her, her arm making a metallic winding sound. He caught a glimpse of something that resembled steel wiring attaching her upper and lower right arm. Tai could only look in amazement at the unfolding spectacle.

"A reel? What the hell is this? What do you want with me, Najenda?!" Saido exclaimed. Najenda's arm finally attached with a click, and she held the young man above her, practically radiating anger.

"Could you please tell me what's going on?" he squeaked.

"How about you apologize for mistaking me for a man first, Saido?" she dangerously growled, causing him to nervously gulp. He held up his hands in defeat.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry! You just look a bit different from two years ago, that's all! I didn't mean anything by it."

After a few more moments of glowering at him, Najenda closed her eye and sighed. "Well, I guess it's a reasonable excuse…alright I'll let you off the hook, but only this _one time_ , alright?" She threateningly asked. Saido wasted no time in nodding as fast as he could. Najenda sighed again and dropped Saido on the ground.

He got up and began brushing dirt off of his outfit. "Geez, I see you for the first time in two years, and the first thing you do is rough me up?" he pouted.

"The first thing you indirectly tell me in two years is that I look like a man." she snapped, not bothering to look in his direction. Saido opened his mouth to argue, then realized it was wise to keep it close lest he wanted a metal knuckle sandwich right there and then.

He sighed. "Well, if that's out of the way, do you mind telling me what you want with me? After that grade school-esque note thing, and watching me from afar in a bar, I think that's the least you can do for me. As a sign of goodwill", he said, moving his hand to let down the pistol hammer and engage the safety, "I just did that. So…?"

Najenda closed her eye and huffed, forcing the last of her irritation out of her system, then turned towards her old friend. "Alright. I'm on my way back from a meeting with the brass to my headquarters. That tavern just happens to be one I frequent when I make the trips between central command and headquarters. I'm guessing Ollie told you the story of how I found out you, or should I say found out about 'Walker'?"

Saido nodded. "He did. He always did have a mouth too big for his previous profession."

"That he does. But in any case," Najenda continued, her expression becoming serious, "you've made quite a name for yourself in the Empire's outer provinces for your…'actions'. Hearing that Ollie knew something of a folk legend and that he was having trouble with mercenaries after said legends got me intrigued, so I decided to capitalize on the situation."

"Thus you watched the brawl from the corner of a room." Saido deduced. He then waved his hand in the air. "This is all nice exposition, Naj, but can we get to the point already?"

"We've already reached the point." Najenda retorted, causing Tai and Saido to sweatdrop at the latter's impatience. "Your combat skill, Saido…it's just as I remembered, if not better. You were the army's cream of the crop two to four years ago, and you still would be today. That's why I want to make an offer to you." Najenda's eye hardened, her true general-like attributes coming out.

"I am commanding a unit of elites that carry out missions for both the Revolutionary Army and the populace of the Empire. What we do, we do in order to bring a better future to this country's people. Your skills would not be wasted on us. In fact, I think you'd be able to plug a few holes in some combat areas that we're lacking in." She held out her left hand, offering a handshake. "What do you say, Saido? For old times' sake, would you like to work with us? With me?"

Saido folded his arms, one eyebrow raised out of skepticism. "The last time I joined a cause that used the betterment of the Empire as a reason for why we fight, I was sent to my death more times than I can count." Saido's expression darkened as he shifted his gaze downwards. "And I…did things, saw things, lost things…that nobody should go through." he quietly muttered.

Najenda lowered her hand a little bit. She knew what Saido was talking about, and it always had been a sensitive topic for him to talk about. She bit her lip, trying to think of a good response.

"Saido." Najenda said. The young man looked up at her, clearly downcast and only getting worst. But she would not falter in front of him. Not back then when things began getting worse, and definitely not now.

"A lot of the targets that we get end up have close ties to big figures in the country. Some have connections to that lard tub of a prime minister. Others have connections to people that were involved in the campaign." At the mention of 'campaign', the bleariness cleared from Saido's eyes and he stood up, now intent.

"I can't guarantee this, but if you work with us, you may find answers to what happened all those nights ago, if carrying out the will of the people isn't your cup of tea."

Saido looked away, his expression of a mixture of many emotions. He slowly sat down on the grass, weighing his options.

"I…" he spoke after a while. "I will join you, Najenda." He looked up at her, and she nodded, offering her left hand to help him up. He took it and got back onto his feet, and they shook hands.

"We should get going now, then." Najenda announced. "It's a while away, my headquarters. Fortunately, I was going on horseback, so we don't have to trek all the way there." She motioned to Saido to follow her. "Come, my horse is in the stables."

Saido nodded. _"Tai,"_ he called out, _"get in one of my backpack pouches, we're leaving."_

" _Already did it."_ Saido looked in bewilderment to find Tai snugly tucked away in his backpack, his face sticking out of the largest pouch.

"… _how did you do that? I literally just called for you."_

" _It just works."_

"Saido? Quit messing around, we need to hurry up if we're going to make it on schedule." Najenda called.

"Right, I'm coming!" Saido called. With a deep breath, Saido set forward on a journey to fulfill yet another contract. Originally he had thought that he was only chasing a pipe dream, which was still leagues better than his original living purgatory. Little did he know how important his mere presence was going to be to the people around him, and how pivotal he was in the ongoing power struggle.

* * *

A/N: I finished this at 3:48 in the morning...woo, pulling all-nighters is not smart. Don't do it guys.


	2. Kill The Commanding Officer (1)

(A/N): Hey guys! It's been a whole year since I've updated this story, and I'm sorry about that. I've had a lot of school and personal issues to deal with, and I'm sorry about that. On top of that, I lost inspiration for this story for a long time, and I found it very hard to complete this chapter for a while. Thankfully, I think I've gotten back into the groove now, so without further interruption I bring you the completed version of chapter 2!

Disclaimer: I don't own AgK.

* * *

 _"I'm sorry, dude. This might take a while." Saido sweatdropped, his mother completely unwilling to let go._

 _Heath leaned against a tree, amused by the situation his friend found himself in. "No, take your time," he snickered. "I'm loving this right now."_

 _"Of course you are," Saido growled. Just finished with celebrating their sixteenth birthdays, the two best friends were finally eligible to do the one thing they had dreamed about for so long – joining the Imperial Army._

 _At that time, the Army had been engaged in the Southern campaign for quite some time. A few years back, the Empire had decided to get serious about the terrorist attacks on civilians and Imperial installations perpetrated by tribes that lived on the border. After enough evidence came out revealing that the Southern government was supporting the tribes, the Imperial Army was sent to ultimately topple the Southern government and eliminate the tribes. However, what seemed like a quick and effective retaliatory strike ended up turning into a lengthy occupation, with Imperial soldiers either dying or deserting at an alarming rate. The extended occupation drew much criticism from citizens (most of which was crushed by the military reserves), and rumors began popping up that former deserters had formed a coalition with disgruntled citizens, from both inside the Empire and with support from neighboring countries._

 _Saido and Heath, however, knew exactly what they wanted. They wanted adventure and action, and to them the military seemed like the easiest way for them to get just that._

 _But most importantly, they wanted to protect the Empire and her people, a motivation that so few seemed to have these days. They were quintessential patriots, through and through, and they wanted little else than seeing their country having a better future. The military offered the right avenue for just that._

 _And so, as soon as they turned sixteen, they went to the nearest recruiting office in proximity, filled out the necessary paperwork, and were given the roles they had signed up for; as it turned out, the Army needed more musket troops on the frontlines._

 _They found themselves then, standing in front of the same recruiting office. Their parents had come to say their tearful goodbyes, and even through repeated promises of being back to see their families after their tours had ended both Saido and Heath shed tears. The goodbyes had gotten to a point, however, where it was plain awkward to be standing around doing nothing, mainly because Saido's mother wouldn't let go._

 _"Mom, it's alright…I'll be back for end-of-year leave, I promise." Saido muttered._

 _"That's not soon enough!" his mother wailed. "What if something happens on the battlefield!? What if you lose an arm or leg, or both?! What if," she gasped, tears trailing down her face like rivers. "You DIE?!" At this she cried out once again and buried her face in Saido's already damp shirt. "Don't leave us, Saido! Please don't leave your poor mother!"_

 _Saido could nothing but pat her head with thinly veiled irritation as his father, his best friend, and his best friend's parents looked on in amusement. He glanced at his father, silently begging him to do something. Sensing his son's desperation, his father nodded and walked over to the two, putting his hand on Saido's mother's shoulder._

 _"Dear, let him go." His father said. His words caused her to cling even tighter to their son, causing both of them to sweatdrop._

 _"Dad, please!..." Saido mouthed. His father nodded and began again. "Dear…"_

 _"Don't you 'dear' me!" To Saido's relief, his mother released her iron grip on his now soggy shirt and began pummeling his father, who took each hit nonchalantly._

 _"That's my dad…" Saido thought as he brushed himself off._

 _"You're supposed to be on my side! Don't you want to keep our baby safe?! You're just okay with sending him off to his death?! He isn't even a proper adult yet! He'll lose all of his innocence in that cursed military! How can you be alright with this?! How?!" His mother cried incessantly as she brought punch after punch down on his father._

 _"I'm alright with this because it's what he wants!" His father yelled, suddenly cross. The sudden outburst shocked everyone, including Saido's mother, who was reeled back, ready to deliver another punch._

 _His expression softened, as he placed both hands on his wife's shoulders. "Sorry, honey. What I meant was, I'm alright with this because he's committing himself to a greater cause. Both him and Heath." He looked towards his son. "Son, why are you joining the military?"_

 _Saido's expression hardened. "To protect the Empire's people, and to help our country see a better tomorrow."_

 _His father nodded. "See? He isn't doing it for fame or riches, although I'm sure those are also possible factors. He's doing out of principle, out of commitment to a cause." he explained, causing the two boys to blush in embarrassment. He looked at the two, now serious again. "I'm sure they know the implications of what they're about to do, else they wouldn't have joined in the first place. That's why I'm okay with this. Don't you see, honey?" He turned to his wife, who was staring at him with wide, tear-filled eyes. "This is what our boy really wants, and even if I don't like his decision, I'll support him one-hundred percent. Won't you?"_

 _Saido's mother looked down, deep in thought. Unbeknownst to the rest of them, Saido himself was thinking as well. Everything his father had just said was true. He and Heath really did have the Empire's citizens in mind, and he was confident that they could handle whatever was thrown at them out on the battlefield._

 _"I...you're right, dear." His mother wiped tears from her face and turned to her son. "I wish you didn't have to do this, sweetie…" She threw herself at him for a tight hug, which Saido reluctantly returned. "…but I guess I can support you. I…you better promise that you'll come back soon!"_

 _"Recruit convoy will be leaving in ten minutes! Repeat, the new recruit convoy will be leaving in ten minutes!" A guard near the entrance of the building called out to them._

 _Saido smiled sadly. "Well, I guess I'll see you later, mom, dad." He released himself from the hug and nodded to Heath, who pushed himself off the tree he was leaning on and picked up his belongings. Saido turned back to his family, tears starting to form in his eyes. "I promise I'll be back for leave."_

 _"You better, son," his father replied. "You've never broken a promise."_

 _Saido laughed and blinked away the tears. He waved goodbye to his parents, who sadly waved back._

 _"Saido. Ready to go?" Heath called out to him._

 _He nodded. "Yeah…yeah, I'm ready."_

 _Heath waved goodbye to his parents, joined up with Saido, and with that the two best friends began walking towards the office._

 _"Are you gonna miss them?" Heath asked._

 _"Ha, no. My parents nag me all the time, why would I miss them?" Saido laughed. At face value his words may have seemed cold, but anybody could tell that he really would already miss his parents. Heath turned towards Saido and saw a few lone tears trailing down his face._

 _"Yeah, I…I definitely won't…miss them…" Saido began choking up. He looked down at the ground as his eyes welled with more tears which threatened to spill out of him._

 _Heath put a hand on his best friend's shoulder, looking into his eyes. "I'll miss mine too, but you know what? It'll be alright, because we'll see them again. I know it."_

 _Saido blinked. "Really?" he whispered._

 _The other boy nodded. "Yeah. From here on out, I've got your back, dude."_

 _Saido offered a small smile. "Same here…same here."_

 _Heath patted his friend a couple of times and motioned towards the recruitment office. "Come on. The convoy's leaving in a few minutes."_

 _The two boys gave a soldier stationed near the convoy their papers, and after being approved for entry the two found the correct wagon and promptly boarded it. They then waited and slept the rest of the day as the convoy made it way to the nearest Imperial Army base._

* * *

 _"Hey, hey, HEY! Wake up, recruit!"_

 _Saido's body jolted at the shock of being yelled awake, and promptly relaxed as the burst of adrenaline faded. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "…are we there now?"_

 _He looked up to see a large, overly-muscular man sneering at him. "You moron! You will learn to address your superiors properly during your time in the Army! Now get your sleeping beauty ass off this wagon and get in formation with the other recruits!" With that, the man jumped off the wagon and presumably proceeded to check the other wagons, grumbling all the while._

 _Saido got up and stretched his limbs, as if completely oblivious to the earful he got only a few moments. He picked up his belongings and shook Heath awake. "Heath…hey, Heath."_

 _The other boy grumbled and swatted his hand away. "Five more minutes, man…" Saido responded by swiftly clonking him on the head, causing the boy to fall to the wagon floor._

 _"Are you awake? Good, now get up. I think we're here."_

 _Heath rubbed his head, pouting. "What the hell was that for? I said five more minutes, geez!"_

 _He put his hands on his hips, annoyed now. "Yeah, well, I don't think the Army is gonna wait five more minutes just for you, so move your ass."_

 _Heath grumbled and fumbled for his bag. "Gimme a break, we haven't even set foot on base and you're thinking you're a drill instructor."_

 _Saido opted to ignore his friend's quip and poked his head out of the wagon. Recruits just like them were walking towards a congregation near a large gate, which was presumably the entrance to the base. An Imperial flag flew proudly on a tall flagpole somewhere in the camp, high and large enough for even Saido to see._

 _"This is it…" he murmured to himself, turning back to check on Heath. "You ready?"_

 _Heath fumbled with a shoulder strap before turning back to Saido. "Yeah, let's go."_

 _The two youth hopped off the wagon and began following the other recruits to the growing group in front of the base. Once they had reached the group, they began to get comfortable with standing around aimlessly until a harsh voice broke their stupor._

 _"Alright, maggots! Get your heads out of your asses and get in formation, single file line! Single file line, recruits, shoulder to shoulder! Let's GO!"_

 _All of a sudden the congregation of clueless recruits was broken and recruits hurried to create a line that fit the suddenly appearing band of drill instructors' demands. Saido and Heath, fortunately aware enough of the situation, hurried and joined the line before the instructors, now circling the recruits like hawks, could single them out._

 _"Well that escalated quickly!" Saido yelled._

 _"Something tells me things'll get a lot worse than just 'escalating quickly'!" Heath replied._

 _At last the line was formed, the drill instructors now watching each and every trembling recruit. After what seemed like a long pause, the same shrill voice that woke Saido up called out._

 _"Atten-HUT! Colonel Jinrui Ubiquitous, commander of the 2nd Southern Infantry Regiment, is speaking!"_

 _A murmur rippled through the line, but was quickly silenced when the recruits realized who was watching them. Footsteps followed the silence, and Saido and Heath strained to see a small podium that was decorated with what seemed to be an Imperial flag. An officer of large stature walked up onto the podium, his uniform decorated with various medals and his hands behind his back. His face was covered by the standard issue combat helmet, so other than his size no other features were noticeable. His very presence demanded attention, which is exactly what each recruit gave him._

 _"Dude, who's talking?" Saido whispered._

 _"Don't know, I can't see very well." Heath whispered back, straining his neck. "Fuck us for being on the sides."_

 _The colonel cleared his throat and began speaking. "I will get to the point," he boomed, his voice echoing across the area. "What you are about to do for the next few years is perhaps one of the greatest things a citizen can do for their country. But it will not be easy, and it won't ever become easy. We will train you to fit your roles, mold you into the best soldiers you can be, optimize you so you can better protect the men or women next to you." He slowly started scanning the line, and even through the bulletproof lens on the helmet, the recruits could feel the intensity of his gaze._

 _"But most of all, you must have a reason, a solid cause, to fight for the Empire. Anyone who simply wants fame or riches will be weeded out during training, and if that doesn't change your cause then war will. Those of you who know why you fight will survive training, perhaps even excel. Those of you that don't…well, I will give you a good reason now: to protect your countrymen."_

 _The base fell silent for a moment, then the colonel continued. "Tell me, soldiers. Why do you fight?" The recruits looked at each other, dumbfounded by the sudden question. Although they had listened to every word of the speech, they couldn't find an answer._

 _"To protect my countrymen!" Saido shouted, shocking nearly everyone and drawing the attention of the colonel. He could feel the colonel staring him down, the intense gaze he received nearly causing him to wither on the spot._

 _"To protect my countrymen!" he shouted louder. He hoped repeating himself would make him feel more self-confident in this situation, and to his surprise it did. He looked directly at the colonel, affirming to him that this was his answer, his cause._

 _"To protect my countrymen!" Heath shouted, following suit._

 _The colonel subtly nodded at the two and looked back at the line. "Soldiers. What is your cause?"_

 _"To protect my countrymen!" The line, having seen the events that unfolded in front of them, had found their answer as a collective. To some, this was a legitimate answer and was worth believing in. To others, they found that answer dubious, as were all other possible answers. But perhaps in time, they would believe in their answer._

 _"What is your cause?!" The colonel yelled louder._

 _"To protect my countrymen!" The recruits roared._

 _"What is your cause?!" The colonel screamed, somehow managing to drown out even the now energized crowd._

 _"TO PROTECT MY COUNTRYMEN!"_

 _Among the recruits, those that roared the loudest seemed to be the ones that would do well in the coming months. The instructors didn't know it at the time, but Saido and Heath, the ones who initially started the chant, were the ones that yelled the loudest._

* * *

"Saido. Saido!"

A small trail of saliva hung out of Saido's mouth. Even on the bumpy horseback ride, he was fast asleep.

"Saido, wake up!"

"Hu-what!" His body jolted awake, causing him to lose his balance for a bit and causing Tai, who was sleeping as well, to nearly fall out of his backpack.

 _"Watch it, would you?"_

 _"S-sorry…"_ "What's up, Naj?"

"Hmph, you're awake. I forgot how heavy a sleeper you are." Najenda scoffed. Saido scoffed, slightly annoyed.

"I forgot how wound up you are…" he muttered to himself.

"What was that?" Saido flinched rose as Najenda turned towards him, her aura becoming dangerously menacing.

"Nothing, nothing!" He cried, panicking.

"Better have been nothing. Anyways," she said, getting off her horse. "We've arrived at the town."

Saido nodded and got off the horse, Tai hopping out of his backpack and trotting near his feet.

The village in question was situated on the side of a hill, the moonlight illuminating the rooftops and house sides where the street lanterns didn't, highlighting the outlines of the various buildings. The village overlooked a rather large plain, the two of them connected by a relatively steep incline. Past the plain was lots and lots of forest, and if he looked further he would be able to see the tree-covered mountains also shining blueish white from the moonlight.

Normally, villages like this one would be quiet at the dead of night, save for the chirping of crickets and other insects, without any of its residents outside, but this one was different. Due to the situation that they found themselves in, every able bodied man or woman was outside with a weapon or tool of some sorts in an effort to fend off the mantises attacking their town.

A young girl, perhaps no older than fifteen, saw the small posse. Her eyes instantly widened in horror and she pointed a rifle far too big for her at them. "Intruders!" she yelled, causing every nearby villager on patrol to look in their direction and cry out in alarm. Saido felt a chill creep up his back as the entire village seemingly came out from nowhere and began swarming towards them.

"Ah shit," he muttered.

"Just put your hands up slowly," Najenda instructed, doing as she said. "I doubt they'll really kill us."

Saido nodded silently and put his hands up. Tai, on the other hand, stuck to Saido's like in complete terror.

 _"What are you doing?! They're going to kill you!"_

 _"No they're not,"_ Saido replied, causing the cat to look up in disbelief.

 _"How can you be so sure?! They're all armed and on edge, and you think they won't open fire?!"_

 _"…"_

 _"You don't know, do you?! You're just playing chicken with our lives!"_

 _"Yeah, I don't know, that's the thing. Cut me a break, I just woke up."_

 _"You're crazy!"_ Tai cried, causing Saido to wince. For some reason, this thought had been louder than any other that Tai had given him.

"Don't move, don't move!" someone cried out. Saido and Najenda watched as the villagers, pointing firearms and melee weapons at them, formed a circle around them. Their panic filled faces starkly contrasted with those of the young man and woman, who were treating this as just another inconvenience.

"Why are you here?! Are you here to rob us? You're probably here to rob us!" one of the villagers yelled, shakily holding his sword at them.

"Calm the hell down. We're here to take care of your little mantis problem." Najenda replied. The absolute ease she replied with broke the group panic the circle were feeling with surprise.

"…wait. You're here to…help us?" the same villager tentatively asked.

The silver haired woman sighed in exasperation. "For the love of…yes, we are here to help."

Her response finally reached the shocked circle, causing the villagers to look at one another in confusion and murmur.

Saido sighed. "Sorry about putting you through this, Naj." he muttered.

"Don't be sorry for this. Be sorry for calling me uppity," she retorted, causing him to nearly jump in surprise. She had actually heard him?

"Sorry…" he groaned, hanging his head in embarrassment.

Another villager cleared his throat, silencing the murmurs. "So, uh, you're here to help us?"

Saido looked back up and nodded. "That's the plan. In fact, I got the contract you guys sent out in my back pocket. I can show you." He began reaching into his back pocket when the group of villagers began yelling and pointed their weapons even closing to him and Najenda.

"Don't move!" the same villager cried. "We'll take you to the villager elder and he'll determine what to do. Just…just don't try anything funny."

The two of them nodded and, with their hands still raised, followed the villager to their leader.

As the group walked through the empty streets of the village, Saido and Tai took the opportunity to look at their surroundings. Every single house either had its lights on or lit lanterns and candles, the light they gave off drowning out the stars in the night sky. Those who could not fight off the mantises, mainly the old and the young, watched from their windows as the group passed by them. Fear and worry were apparent as they regarded the young man and his companions with wide eyes. He nodded to some of them as they walked past, trying his best to assuage their fear.

 _"Tai, you sensing that?"_

 _"I believe so. These humans, they're scared. Are they scared because of the mantis attacks?"_

 _"Yeah, but I'm sure us attracting the attention of their ragtag militia also alerted them too."_

 _"It's no wonder every single one of them, and me, are on edge, then."_

 _"For the love of - would you give it a break? They didn't kill us. In fact, they're trusting us right now."_

 _"You call being marched at gunpoint trust?!"_

 _"Hey, it's better than getting shot."_

 _"What kind of-"_

"Hey!" Saido heard a shrill voice from behind him, followed by the feeling of a gun barrel being pressed against his back. "Pick up the pace!"

"Yeah, yeah," Saido grunted callously, causing Najenda to shoot him a look that demanded silence.

After walking for a while the group reached a residence that was somewhat larger than the other houses in the village. One of the men in the group placed his hands on a younger boy's shoulders, most likely his son.

"Go inside and get the elder. He'll want to see these two." The wide-eyed boy nodded and dashed inside the building, leaving the remainder of the group to keep their weapons pointed at the two unfortunate soldiers and cat.

Najenda was completely nonchalant in the face of potential death at the hands of her captors. Her cool attitude irritated a few of the militiamen, causing them to inch their weapons closer to her. Unfazed, her good eye flicked over to the girl that had initially spotted them, who flinched when their gazes met.

"The magazine's in backwards, kiddo," she deadpanned, causing the girl to jump in surprise and hastily inspect her weapon.

"H-huh? So that's why it sounded so funny earlier…"

Saido whistled, impressed. "At least I can count on you for still having a good eye."

Najenda smirked. "I retained a lot of my military skills. What I'm interested in is, did you?"

"If tonight goes the way I think it will, you'll find out soon enough," he replied, winking at her.

Najenda laughed at the young man's not-so-subtle double entendre, along with a couple of quietly chuckling militiamen. The tension of the atmosphere now lessened, a few of the militiamen lowered their weapons, though still at the ready.

"So, uh, do you guys mind if we put our arms down now?" Saido asked, grimacing a bit as he stretched. "Kinda gettin' cramped over here."

One of the militiamen shook his head. "No can do. Orders are orders unless the village elder says differently."

The young man groaned in exasperation. "Seriously? When is your 'elder' going to say differently, then?"

As if to answer his question, the main doors to the residence opened, attracting the attention of the small group. Out walked a man who Saido and Najenda presumed to be the village elder, escorted by two armed guards. He was a tall and lanky man, dressed in combat attire too big for him, protecting all except for his head, which was completely devoid of any armor. He had bags under his eyes and his long face showed signs of weariness and anxiety, both of which didn't seem fitting for him.

He waved a hand to his bodyguards. "I can handle this." The two men saluted the elder and immediately stood at attention, their bodies as still as statues. The elder approached Najenda and Saido, his arms crossed. "You two can put your arms down."

Najenda and Saido, who was now more relieved, did as he asked, the man never taking his eyes off them once. His gaze unwavering, he barked to the group of militiamen. "Don't you all have families to protect? Get back to your patrols!"

The militia nodded and quickly scattered to their posts, leaving only the two ex-soldiers and cat, the elder, and the elder's detail in front of the residence.

The elder sighed and raked his hair with a free hand. "So you two're the ones who took the contract?"

The silver haired woman nodded. "Not me, but my friend here," she explained, amicably slapping Saido on the back, causing the young man to look slightly startled.

The elder quickly examined him with disapproving eyes and crossed his arms. "He doesn't look like much. He's…what, five-foot-seven, eight? Having a bunch of weapons doesn't make him our savior."

Najenda smiled. "Oh, but he is. Ever heard of the Walker?"

At this, the elder perked up. He glanced at Najenda with a renewed interest. "Really? Well, then…" He held his hand out to Saido. "My apologies, Walker. The situation here has been getting progressively worse, and to be honest I'm on the ropes here."

Saido shook his hand. "None taken, elder. How bad are things?"

The man sighed and turned towards the woodland below the village. "The mantises came about a week ago, and at first it was just the queen. We could fend her off by ourselves, but she kept coming back with more of her own. Hardly any of our younger villagers have any skill in combat, and those that do are incapacitated. We don't have a properly trained militia, either – we've always relied on support from the Army. But," he continued, breaking their eye contact and looking off into the distance. "With the times being what they are, we don't have that support anymore. Nobody here has died yet thanks to good medical care and the grace of God, but that won't be for much longer."

The young man scratched his chin, in thought. "Have you tried getting support from the Revolutionaries?"

The elder laughed bitterly. "The Revolutionary Army? Really? Please don't make me laugh." As he finished his sentence, his eyes widened at what he had just said, causing Saido to snort in amusement.

"Politics aside," Najenda growled, somewhat irritated now. "The Walker would like to know what he needs to do."

The old man narrowed his eyes. "Fair enough, I will get to the point. Kill the mantises. That is all."

Saido raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"

The elder nodded. "The mantises, from what we gather, have a hierarchy based system that is akin to that of ants."

"Hierarchy…so they'll follow the queen's orders, then? Come to her aid when she needs it?"

"Yes. If you take out the queen, then the rest will lose their will to live and won't harass us anymore."

The bounty hunter raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Do you know for certain this will be the case?"

The elder firmly nodded. "I'm certain. We've harmed the queen on separate occasions, and every time we do she calls…or more so screeches at her subordinates to cover her retreat." His explanation caused the bounty hunter to nod, seemingly affirmed in his findings.

"Where and when do they come?"

"They come at night from there." he said, pointing to the somewhat distant tree line of the forest that the village overlooked.

As if his pointing had triggered it, the elder and his company heard an ear-piercing screech from deep inside the forest below the village, followed by the growing sound of rustling branches. A small dust cloud suddenly kicked up in the midst of the trees, and it seemed to grow. Something – no, a lot of somethings were headed towards them, and fast.

Saido and the elder's guards turned towards the noise and gripped their weapons, and Najenda clenched her fists.

"They're here." The elder muttered.

"Does the militia have half-decent shooters?" Saido asked, taking off his leather vest.

"…yes, we should have at least that."

"Fair enough. Listen closely," he continued, dropping the vest on the ground. "Since the village is on a hill, I want a firing line of the best riflemen you can offer spread out along the top of this ridge, at the top of the incline." Saido indicated an imaginary position at the foot of the hill with his finger. "Tell them to hide behind any cover, find targets, and fire."

The elder nodded, impressed by the young man's tactics. "Is that all you're proposing? A simple firing line?"

Saido shrugged. "Pretty much. They are not to shoot until I snap my fingers. So when I do, then and only then are they allowed to fire." He looked back to the old man, then at Tai, then at Najenda, then finally back at the old man, and shrugged. "That, or if I die."

The dust cloud steadily grew, and the sound of falling trees emerged along with the crashing of branches. Saido grit his teeth and disengaged the safety on his rifle. "Send someone to get your militia ready."

The elder turned to one of his guards and barked, "You heard the boy, go!" The guard saluted his leader and ran as quickly as he could to the patrols. The elder turned back to Saido and asked, "What are you planning to do?"

"Simple," Saido replied as he checked the rifle's ejection port for dirt. "I'm challenging the queen to one-on-one."

The elder's jaw dropped, his pupils narrowing in shock. "Cha…challenging the queen to one-on-one combat? Are you crazy?"

"That's not relevant, sir. Look," he replied, turning around to face the elder. "A lot of pack animals in this province follow a hierarchy which, if disturbed or destroyed, causes them to scatter and eventually die. They know nothing else but to follow orders, so killing the leader will put an end to this whole thing."

The elder's brow furrowed, his shock turned to curiosity. This bounty hunter was something else. "What about the queen? Are you sure she will accept your challenge?"

Saido shrugged once more. "Pretty sure. I've done this type of thing plenty of times, so I don't expect her to up and just attack me out of the blue."

Another screech came from the forest, this one much louder than the previous ones. The group turned its attention back to the dust cloud, which was now much larger and closer than it was a few moments ago.

Saido turned back to the approaching threat. "That's all I have to say." He turned to Najenda, whose arms were crossed, her eye watching him intently. "Naj, could you take care of my vest? It'll only weigh me down, and I don't need any unnecessary weight for this."

She nodded, walking towards to the vest and picking it up. "Don't disappoint me, Walker." Saido simply nodded in return.

He turned back towards the plain and was about to leave when he felt something tug at his leg. Looking down, he saw Tai tugging on his pants, a worried look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Saido raised an eyebrow at the cat clinging to him.

 _"Are you going to be alright?"_ This caused his mouth to twitch in confusion. The cat's tone held genuine worry, which seemed strange to him. It had barely been a day and his new companion was already attached and was seriously worrying about his health. Something didn't feel right.

Saido shook his head. Whatever. He needed to fight.

Crouching down to the cat, he pet Tai on the head with his free hand. "Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it. Stay put."

To anyone else it would've seemed like a man just telling his animal companion to wait for him, and with good reason. After all, they couldn't hear the conversations the bounty hunter had with his cat, nor could they see the emotionless gaze that said bounty hunter gave his cat.

With that, Saido turned his back to the group and made his way towards the plain. Najenda watched intently as her old friend walked slowly toward the impending fight. Her eye narrowed as his aura became harder to detect.

She bent down to pick up the vest, but as she lifted it up something caught her attention. The vest was light! She actually had no trouble actually picking it up. Granted, the material it was made out of was designed to withstand a significant amount of force, but it was still very light. And she highly doubted it would've hindered someone speed-wise.

Her eye narrowed in suspicion. "This would've given you a defensive edge, and yet…" She looked towards his diminishing figure, which slipped away from sight as he descended towards the plain.

"Saido…just what are you doing?"

Najenda turned around as the elder's security guard returned, a ragtag team of panicking riflemen following him.

* * *

With a screech, the queen ripped the branches of the last tree in front of it to shreds and emerged onto the plain, tree sap dripping off its blades. The moonlight illuminated its hard red shell and soft yellow flesh underneath the armor. Large black pupils fervently danced around its yellow eyes, trying to identify any potential prey. Its hunting companions, not as large as it but nonetheless menacing, emerged from the tree line as well, idly making clicking noises and waiting for their queen to make the next move.

The queen's pupils landed on a lone figure in the distance, and they shrank as she examined it. A single human stood there, seemingly unperturbed by the hunting group's presence. The human didn't give off any fear either, which caused the queen to tilt its head in contemplation. It made clicking noises, saliva dripping from its maw as it calculated all the possible reasons a lone human would seriously contemplate standing in harm's way...

…and deduced that it didn't matter. In front of it was prey, after all. Sparing no time, it bounded off its haunches and sped towards the human, its subordinates in tow.

Closer and closer the queen got, the lone human showing no signs of fear or resistance. It got closer still, and now the queen could discern the finer details of its prey. This human was dressed differently than the others they had attacked previous nights, but that didn't really matter. They were all weak in comparison to its horde.

The queen bared its glistening scythes, ready to finish off its prey in one quick motion. It leapt in the air, the mantis-shaped shadow that the moonlight created completely eclipsing the human, and deftly brought its scythes down on the human-

-only for the human to leap out of the way at the last possible second, the queen instead sinking its weapons the ground beneath it.

 _THOOM!_

A small dust cloud rose from the attack and quickly dissipated. Hissing, the monster's head snapped to where its prey had vanished, only to see said prey pointing some sort of box with a hole at it.

 _CRACK! CRACK!_

The beast saw two flashes erupt from the hole before its head was knocked back with incredible force. As it throttled back, it caught a glimpse of a part of its facial armor flying off into the distance, two visible dents briefly illuminated by the moonlight.

Just as quickly as it was assaulted, the queen snapped back into position and regained its composure, sufficiently angered now. It eyed the human, which was now glaring at it. This human definitely wasn't like the others, not with what it just pulled off.

Its subordinates screeched as they prepared to strike at the human, but one swipe of its scythes and a screech from their leader caused them to back down. Hissing, the giant mantises backed away as the queen eyed the human.

Save from the occasional blink, the human's glare had not broken off of the large monster. The box was still in its hands, but now at the side, a small trail of smoke floating out of the hole. Its aura was more detectable now, and what the queen detected jarred it. Was it fear?...no, no not at all. The way that the human below it was glaring at it, and this unrecognizable aura it had…the queen was being challenged. This human came here specifically looking to fight it.

It clicked, its jaws idly twitching. The main goal of the attacks was to keep attacking the town up above in order to weaken and eventually kill all of the town's inhabitants, but it reasoned that being issued a challenge wasn't going to seriously hamper their eventual slaughter of the town above them. With that line of reasoning, it motioned to its horde and made a couple of clicks, signaling the horde to back away.

On hearing that, the mantises' unanimous feeling of hostility was interrupted by confusion. Their queen had just been attacked by this measly human, and now they had just been ordered to stand down. It made no sense! Completely baffled, the horde stood there, surrounding the human and clicking in confusion, until the queen screeched the order once again. With no choice but to obey their leader, the smaller but still threatening monsters backed away from the two, retreating to a distance where they would still be able to assist if needed.

This still was a large distance though, as the beast and the human found themselves practically alone in a wide expanse of open land with all eyes on them. The human's box made a clicking noise and was slung around his back via a strap that was attached to the box. He then withdrew some sort of small, black stick from his side and once more glared at the beast in front of him in a silent challenge to make the first move.

The queen didn't have to think twice about what its prey meant as it madly dashed towards its smaller opponent, blades at the ready.

* * *

Saido dashed forwards as the queen brought an enormous scythe down onto his position, which barely missed him as he unsheathed his knife with his free hand. As the blade gleamed in the moonlight, he made an elongated cut along the beast's unarmored abdomen in an attempt to seriously wound it. He slid out from underneath as the queen roared in fury. His attack had been little more than a scratch which did nothing more than piss the beast off.

"Come on, come on," he whispered, eyes wide as he twirled the knife in his hand. "Show me what you got!"

The queen screeched and launched itself forward, swiping rapidly. With little effort, Saido was able to deftly dodge the mantis' blades, and yet due to his little effort, only barely evade the serrated edges of the scythes, allowing him to examine every little ridge alone the blades. To most challengers, the prospect of having serrated blades that close to their necks would cause them to piss themselves, but Saido simply regarded it as just another night job. It didn't make any difference to him how close the blades were as long as they didn't touch him.

Hell, part of him wished that they could touch him.

He saw the queen pull back a limb and shoot a blade at him with lightning speed, a deviation from the previous high-speed slashes. With a sharp breath, he jumped out of the way just as the queen's limb sank into the ground with a resounding 'thud'.

Landing back on his feet, he took quick action and capitalized on the attack by running up the queen's entrenched limb. When he was only a few steps up the beast's arm, however, the queen managed to dislodge its scythe from the ground, causing Saido to lose balance and grab onto the queen's spiked limb for support, dropping his knife in the process.

He yelped and hissed as the spikes dug into his hand, feeling warm blood slowly ooze out of his wounds. "Shit," he muttered, swinging his body as to avoid the queen's attempts to impale him with her other limb. "At least it's not my shooting hand." He raised his pistol and fired off two shots at the queen's thorax and one in the exposed shoulder area of the arm he was holding onto.

The third bullet ripped through the queen's flesh, causing it to screech in pain and divert its attention, buying Saido precious time away from the monster's attention. Letting go of the limb with a wince, he dropped to the ground, briefly examining his hand. His skin was definitely punctured in some areas and some flesh was exposed to the wind, but other than that it wasn't a wound that couldn't wait. He made a note to patch up the injury as best as he could later, lest he catch an infection.

The two locked eyes as they finished inspecting their wounds. Saido took a few steps back as the queen, now more than sufficiently angry, charged him. He dived to the side again as it swiped with its non-injured arm, the force from the attack enough to flatten the grass in front of the beast.

"I gotta finish this," he muttered to himself. He quickly glanced up to the top of the hill to see a collection of small silhouettes popping up over the top of the ridge, along with a hint of silver hair among them.

"Perfect," he thought to himself. He turned back towards the giant mantis in front of him, which was now reeling back its good arm to impale him again. It seemed to have discarded rational strategic thought in exchange for sheer force and speed. After all, he did shoot it through the shoulder.

He dodged the attack and as the queen sank her blade into the ground again, jumped back and fired a shot into the beast's thorax, only for the shot to be stuck in its carapace. The queen yanked her blade out of the ground, sending dirt flying everywhere in the vicinity. In this hazy confusion, it lunged at Saido, who was only able to barely dodge the attack by catching a glimpse of the faint gleam the moonlight gave off the blades through the dust.

As soon as he landed, Saido's knees buckled slightly and his breath seized as a sharp pain pierced his side. He drew his hand to his wound, winced, and kneeled down to examine his wound.

The mantis queen had pierced his clothes and made a deep cut. It wasn't fatal, but there was definitely damaged muscle tissue and an alarmingly fast rate of blood loss. His shirt was becoming more stained by the second, and the grip of his knife and fingers were covered in a layer of blood. Gritting his teeth, he looked up at the dissipating cloud of dust, his opponent striding towards him, its good arm poised menacingly.

"Shit," he whispered to himself. Holding his knife hand to his injured side, Saido took a step back and fired at the beast as it neared him.

* * *

Najenda looked on at the scene unfolding below her, the village elder quietly doing so as well. Her brow furrowed as she witnessed the battle seemingly favor the queen, and how Saido lost the initiative so quickly and went from the offensive to becoming strictly on the defensive.

The militiamen, who were now gathered at the ridge and aiming their rifles down at the horde, were starting to pick up on this as well, and murmurs began to spread throughout the militia. The elder, who picked up on this, barked at the men to be quiet and focus on the enemy, and the quickly spreading discontent was squashed nearly instantly. Najenda internally breathed a sigh of relief at the elder's quick response, but did not divert her attention from the fight below.

Saido had completely shattered her expectations. Not that they were particularly defined – after all, this was the first time she had seen him for a couple of years. And although it was astute to say that he had changed in this time, that was all she could really say about him right now: that he had changed. The most she could discern from his actions then was that he wasn't taking the fight as seriously as she remembered he would have – rather, he seemed to be more focused on provoking his opponent to attack rather than actively attacking the opponent.

Her eye narrowed as she followed the movements of both combatants. "What the hell, Saido," she thought to herself. A hint of worry began to expand within her mind as Saido's prospects began to look worse and worse. She crossed her arms, this hint of worry growing even larger –

-until, all of a sudden, Saido made a sudden move, which came after an ear-splitting screech, that caught her and the rest of the onlookers' attention. With new energy, her head turned rapidly towards the elder, who was also caught in shock at the young man's move.

"Give your men the signal to fire," she said. A steadily growing rumbling noise could be heard from the bottom of the hill.

The elder seemed slow to respond, seemingly at a loss for words from the sudden shift of balance in the fight. Najenda cleared her voice. "Sir." At this, he slightly flinched and was brought back to reality. The rumbling noise grew louder. Remembering, what he had to do, the elder raised his hand into the air. "Aim!" With some fumbling, the fireteam posted along the wall aimed their rifles at the bottom of the hill.

"Fire!"

* * *

Just a few moments earlier, Saido landed on his feet again after dodging another mad strike at him from the mantis queen, its blade piercing the ground and once again creating a cloud of dust.. His breathing had become more ragged, the pain becoming more prevalent in his thought process. He had missed his chance to make an opening before he had gotten hit, and now he was only focused on evading killing blows now. He was getting more lethargic with each step he took, and he could only do so much more while bleeding out.

His body lowered as if to leap away again, expecting another strike by his opponent. However, he could only here the low grunting from his opponent through the dust. As the immediate surroundings cleared up, he could make out that the queen's blade had sunk too far into the ground, and it was having trouble extracting it. He pursed his lips and, brandishing his weapons, dashed towards the blade.

Arms pumping and doing his best to ignore the pain in his midsection, Saido ran up the blade, firing at the queen's head to attract its attention, which he successfully managed to do. Both attempting to deliver to the other a killing blow, the queen lunged forward and opened its maw wide, trying to bite down on Saido in mid-air, while he jumped from the elbow of the queen's arm and raised his knife high, attempting to bring it down.

Saido's knife made first contact with the queen. As it had lunged forward at the right moment, the knife sank right into the soft part of the beast's carapace and into its brain. In agony, the queen shrieked and flailed around, dislodging its stuck blade and kicking up dust everywhere in the process. Saido held onto the knife literally for his life, the stretching of his body from the g-force of the ride exacerbating his wound, causing him to yell out in pain.

As the world spun around him, he looked at the only constant focus point in his view right now – the knife. His hand, now covered in a mix of his and the queen's blood, was beginning to lose grip, even when he was grasping it so firmly now. But he finally had leverage over his opponent. This was his opportunity – he could end the battle here!

Yelling louder, Saido gripped with all his might and threw his lower body onto the head of the queen, his feet landing on her open mandibles. "Perfect,", he thought to himself. Now in a solid position to apply force, he took his pistol and fired the remainder of the magazine into the monster's head until the pistol slide jerked back from having spent currently loaded ammunition. As the queen shrieked even louder and bucked harder, he threw his pistol aside and, with his newly freed hand, applied more pressure to the hilt of the knife and twisted it even deeper into its brain.

The queen's movements became more lethargic and slow, but that didn't stop the shrieking. In a last-ditch effort to defeat its foe, it called out to its pack to attack. The pack, hearing their alpha's plea, leapt from their position in the treeline and barreled towards Saido, their intent to kill palpable.

As the queen's last call began to die out, Saido turned towards to oncoming horde, still gripping the blade. In the back of his mind something told him, "go keep fighting", but he knew that he was in no position to be in another fight, let alone against a pack of giant Danger Beasts. He cursed to himself, and looked back at the ridge to see if his request was still set up, and saw the same shadows peeping over the ridge as before. Pursing his lips, he raised his hand and repeatedly snapped his fingers, looking at his snapping hand as if it contained his salvation.

Nothing. His pupils shrank and his muscles tensed in fear as he kept snapping. Still nothing. Saido could make out the discernable details of the lead mantis in the approaching pack, which was approaching even still.

"Aim!" A male voice called out from the top of the ridge. The elder seemed to finally remember what he had requested, as the command was followed by the faint sound of rifles being readied. Saido took a deep breath and snapped his fingers one more time.

"Fire!"

The continuous cracking of rifles firing was accompanied by muzzle flashes that illuminated the silhouettes of Saido and the mantis queen, and as the bullets found their marks the beasts jerked about as if they were being electrocuted, their blood spraying on the ground as the bullets passed through their bodies. Saido exhaled as he watched the Danger Beasts' bodies jerk around as they became eviscerated by the militia.

When the firing stopped, the finally dead bodies of the mantis queen and its pack fell to the ground. Saido sighed in relief. With a quick motion, he extracted the knife from the queen's head and flicked the blood off of it, and stood up, his other hand clutching his still-bleeding side. As the militia cheered and celebrated behind him, he sheathed his knife and walked over to his pistol. Picking it up, he holstered the gun and made his way back up to the top of the hill, his ragged breathing the only sound that permeated the night along with the cheering from the town militia.

* * *

"Holy shit, that was awesome! You're legendary, dude!"

"That was like something out of a story! Awesome job!"

"We did it! We beat the beasts! We're safe now!"

As he made his way to Najenda, Tai, and the elder, Saido was congratulated and thanked by the elated militiamen, and even some of the townspeople, who were starting to arrive on the scene, attracted by the cheering. He could've sworn he even caught a glimpse of the young rifle-toting girl, a large smile on her face and her rifle magazine inserted the correct way. He offered some smiles and shook a couple hands with his free hand, but it was all he could manage – the pain from his wound was too great to ignore. As he approached the three, the militia went back to cheering with the rest of the town. Tai ran up to Saido with a worried look, putting his paws on his pant legs.

 _"Are you okay, Saido? You're looking really pale."_

 _"I'll…be fine."_ He winced a bit, a motion that did not go unnoticed by Najenda. She had her arms crossed, an unreadable expression on her face. She was watching him intently as the elder walked up to Saido, a satisfied look on his face.

"That was spectacular, Walker. Were it not for you, all of us would probably be dead."

"Thank you, elder," he ground out. He could feel his heartbeat now, its pounding now becoming audible. He didn't know how much longer he could stand up.

"The reward we put up is yours now, young man. You've definitely earned it, and…" The elder's talking turned into

"That…won't be necessary, sir…I just need…" Saido's balance began falling off. He began swaying back and forth, his descent into unconsciousness apparent.

 _"Saido?! Saido!"_ Tai clawed at his companion's leg, a vain attempt to help him regain consciousness.

Saido hit the ground with a thud, barely feeling a thing. He looked up at the clear, starry night sky, and as his vision began to darken and Tai's telepathic voice dulled, he wondered if his friends would think he performed his mission successfully. His last sight was a blurry image of Najenda's concerned face, her purple eye mixing in with her silver hair.

* * *

"Saido?! Saido!...goddamnit, wake up, Saido!" Najenda shook her friend ferociously, attempting to wake him up, to no avail. She looked down at his abdomen, evaluating his wounds as thoughts and plans raced through her mind. She looked at the elder, who was bent over the two of them with worry, and the growing crowd of militia and townspeople, who had seen the young man keel over and fall unconscious. She put two fingers to Saido's neck to check for a pulse, and she found one. It was a decent pulse, but she could tell it was weakening. Wasting no time, she looked back at the elder, a plan in mind.

"Get a medic over here now," she ordered. The elder wasted no time this instance in giving the correct orders, and as the militia began calling for a medic she looked back down at Saido, feeling his weakening pulse.

 _"Hang in there, damnit,"_ she thought to herself. _"Hang on."_

* * *

 _clink! clink! clink-fwooosh_

Najenda put the lighter to her cigarette, and after a few seconds she recapped the lighter and put it back in her pocket, taking a long drag. She closed her eyes as she exhaled, and when she reopened them she looked down at the townspeople, their faces glowing oranges from the torches they were carrying. After the medic had patched up Saido and declared him stable, Najenda wasted no time in picking him up fire-man style and carrying him and his belongings back to her horse, Tai following close on her heels. The elder had quickly caught up with her, asking where she was going with him, to which she replied with "a place where he'll be safe." After she had placed Saido on the back of the horse, Tai back in Saido's backpack, and the backpack on the horse, she then mounted her horse and took out a fresh cigarette.

She placed the cigarette back in her mouth, and the elder said, "I must thank you again for helping to save our town."

"Don't thank me, thank him." She turned her focus to the road towards her base, the moon-lit night illuminating the road in patches from the where the shadows of the trees towering over the road didn't reach. She took the horse's reins in her hands.

"At least tell us who you are? Who you are with? Aside from him, we're indebted to you as well." The townspeople murmured in agreement. They were truly grateful for what happened here today.

Najenda pulled her hood over her head, her gaze never wavering from the road. "Thank the Revolutionary Army. That's who I am." The elder mumbled something that she didn't bother catching or asking for twice, but when he raised his voice, he said, "I see, then. You've proved the Revolutionaries' worth here tonight. We won't forget it."

"I would appreciate that, elder. Thank you." Najenda took another drag from her cigarette, when a small voice called out near her.

"You shouldn't smoke, missy. My mommy says it's bad for your health." Najenda turned towards the sound of the voice, somewhat intrigued. The same girl with the gun – no, a smaller girl next to her, her sister perhaps? – was looking at Najenda with big eyes, her big sister silently nodding in agreement. Najenda smiled. If only smoking was the least of her worries.

"Thanks for that, kid. I'll try to remember that." Smiling, she turned her attention back to the road and started the horse. Soon, she and her company in tow were racing down the midnight road, the townspeople watching their company disappear. The only trace of their presence now was a smoke trail that quickly vanished along with them.


End file.
